Counter Guardian
by ginobi47
Summary: Hunted down due to his infamy, while carrying the heavy guilt of mass murder, a certain PKK struggles forward to achieve his only goal: To send his sister back to the real world
1. Prologue

The black mist clears and the ground shook as the 10 foot giant falls on its back, never to rise again. Before the fallen beast was an exhausted figure of a man….. no…. this person is still too young to be a man, but too old to be a boy. He kneels on all fours, desperately trying to slow down his erratic heart rate.

He wore a long white hooded jacket, covering his blue eyes and most of his face. Underneath the jacket are a black long sleeve shirt, pants and boots. His appearance was to imitate one of his anime favorite character, but unfortunately, the lack of customization options prevented him to do that. At the very least, he wanted a red jacket, but the closest one he could get lacked all the necessary stats to match his fighting style, thus the idea was abandoned.

"*huff* *huff*"

He takes off his hood and ruffled his short brown hair, trying to cool his head down, but that is not necessary. Here in SAO, the character didn't need air, it didn't sweat, and most importantly, it didn't feel fatigue. But that's just the character, the one on the other side felt all this things and more, so much more. In the real world, he would probably be sweating buckets, all of it formed from the dangerous cocktail of fatigue, intense and prolonged concentration, and fear

Lots and lots of adrenaline inducing, mind numbing, pants crapping fear.

But due to that fear, his self-preservation instincts were pushed beyond the limits of human comprehension. It made him do things that even he couldn't believe.

"*huff* *huff*" He swallows and takes a deep breath, which effectively calms him down a bit. " …. I'm…. alive?"

While still kneeling, he waves his hand to access his status page…. And what he saw shocked him. His HP is currently blinking red, a clear sign that he is not in good shape.

Want to know the punch line to it all?

His life bar is nearly nonexistent.

Life remaining: **0.3%**

"Zero POINT Fucking Three Percent… PWHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughs maniacally

It was like having a loaded gun shoved up his mouth, trigger cocked and ready to blow his brains out. But for some unknown reason, the gunner decided to spare his life out of pity.

"Not bad at all! HAHAHAHAHA!" Though he kept laughing, tears stream out of his eyes. He covered his eyes with his hands and began to cry. "*sniff* …I'm… *hic* … still ….*sniff*…. Alive … *sniff*"

These were not tears of joy, but tears of relief. Not one cry of victory can be heard, only the sobs of a young man thanking god that he was still alive.

His enemy was the boss of the 49th floor and belongs to one of the tougher monster race in SAO, a Cyclopes Champion. It was armored to the teeth with heavy armor, making it near invincible to physical attacks at the cost of speed. It also wielded the stone sword Nine Lives, a very powerful and very expensive one hand sword (two handed sword if wielded by a player) which is well sought off by those who wielded such a weapon.

This battle pretty much forced him to use all of his arsenals to win. Every strategy, every dirty trick, all of his current armaments and nearly all of his potions were utilized in the 40 minute boss battle.

He fought smart, abusing the enemy's slow movement speed and limited field of vision to bring it down. At the early minutes of the battle, he aimed his attacks at the little openings in its armor, mostly located at the joints, to put a dent in its HP. When he realized that the enemy HP was dropping too slow, he changed tactics and used his DIRTY TRICKS.

FYI, though it is labeled as DIRTY TRICKS, all of it is within the rules and regulations of the game. He used no hacks, he bent no rules and he won against the Cyclopes fairly. Unfortunately, most people would consider it as dishonorable and cowardly, thus labeled as DIRTY TRICKS. An example of this was the black smoke that dispersed after he killed the monster. It's a bomb with main function is to blind everyone within the area, but it also has nasty side effects if the alchemist tweaked the formula enough.

He also has other _DEVICES_ that he used during the battle, but those explanations are for another time. Why spoil the mystery now?

Anyways, the total price tag of all the items used in the battle was a staggering 100k gold. One could buy a low quality house in a not so pretty neighborhood with that kind of money. In Aincard, a roof over your head is practically a symbol of wealth. But compared to staying alive for another day, 100k gold is a very small price to pay.

Thankfully, the battle was not a complete waste of time (and money, lots and lots of money). The loots dropped more than enough to pay for his expenses. If he recalls correctly, the Nine Lives fetched about 150k gold at the auction. Though it is a strong weapon, he has no uses for it, seeing how he is a knife wielder. There are other drops such as the Iron Spine (90K one hand saw-ish sword weapon), Juggernaught's Gaulent (50K Cyclopes gaulent turned shield) and the Tyrant's Breastplate (100k armor), but none of them are usable to him. The things that he is after are composed mostly of crafting ingredients, normally ignored by most players.

He wipes his tears and picks up the items and begins marching up the next floor.

"Man….. *sniff* I would be famous if it wasn't for my damn reputation" He speaks to himself

He cant help but regret coming here at night, but he has no other choice on the matter. He has 2 well known nicknames and 1 not so well known nickname.

His not so well known nickname is "THE AUCTIONEER", because his name, along with high grade items, is always spotted in the action houses. Thanks to that, a lot of players bid top gold for his finds, which in turn, makes him one of the richest people in Aincard. Unfortunately, he has a very stingy mindset, thus he doesn't own a house or whatever items associated with being wealthy. He hates worthless expenditure that comes with high class living, calling them a useless investment. He did come from a rags-to-riches family.

Next up is his 1st widely well-known nickname, "THE MIST". Yes, those black mist bombs are his signature move. Most people don't even know that he is using bombs, because he never deploys when someone has a clear view of it. Though expensive and tiresome to make, those bombs are his trump card in battles with overwhelming disadvantages, such as the boss battle a few minutes ago.

Finally, his most widely known nickname, "THE MURDERER". He has the highest player kills in all of SAO, which in turn, earns him the highest infamy. During the early days of SAO, the players lived in fear of being PK'ed by members of Laughing Coffin. Unfortunately, one of their victims happened to be a friend of his, which turned him into a vigilante. His quest for revenge resulted in the deaths of 21 of their members within a span of 6 months of the 2nd year. Other non- Laughing Coffin PKers also fell victim, causing his kill count and infamy to grow further. By the end of the Laughing Coffin extermination crusade, he has effectively killed 56 players. His kill count even exceeds the members of the Laughing Coffin.

Of course, his actions were not going to go unnoticed. His previous guild, the Aincard Liberation Force AKA The Army, labeled him a criminal and allocated a small group of soldiers just to hunt him down. And in a cruel twist of fate, the unit that is hunting him down, is led by his very own sister. To avoid The Army, he is only active during night, making his already lonely life even more depressing.

"*sigh*…. Sometimes, I wonder if god hates me…." He said to no one.

He reaches the top of the stairs, officially making him the first person to set foot on floor # 50. He takes out his last potion (a fairly expensive one) and drains it in one go, recovering about 50% of his health. He repositions the shield strapped onto his left arm and checks the condition of his dagger.

"Hmm… I'm ready as I'll ever be…" He looks at the sky and notices that dawn is fast approaching. "… and my time is almost up…"

He steels his will and begins his exploration of the next floor.

In his mind, he reaffirms the things he must accomplish before his eventual death.

Yes, he has already accepted that one way or another, he will hang for the sins he has made. He will die here in SAO, there is no doubt about that. But at the very least, he wants to be a stepping stone for his sister to go back to the real world. Even if their current relationship is far from ideal, it is his duty as an older brother, and a punishment as a murderer, to be sacrificed so that those who are still pure can return to the real world.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

THE EMPRESS, THE HIEROPHANT and THE FOOL

-:-

November 5, 2022

-:-

The dark ceilinggreeted the boy awakening, a clear indication that it was still way too early to rise. He laid perfectly still as his mind debated on waking up completely or falling back to sleep. In his indecision, the alarm clock pounds his ears mercilessly, forcing him to rise.

The display reads a very irritating 4:30 AM

"_*Sigh* Normal people don't wake up this early…"_

He stops the alarm, puts on some random clothes and heads out of the room. The corridor is pitch black but he finds no trouble navigating through it. He walked till the end of the long corridor and descended the stairs. At the 1st floor, he traced the wall with his hands until he felt the light switch. He flicks the switch, and was blinded by the simultaneous activation of the lights. The mirrors reflected the intense light, forcing him to cover his eyes in agony.

The familiar smell of metal and rubber flooded his nose. At the same time, the familiar sight of scattered gym equipment greeted his slightly pained eyes. In his frustration, he can also see some sweat marks on the floor.

"_As much as I appreciate the business, those overstaying bastards should atleast clean up their own mess"_

And so, he began his daily routine of putting everything back to where they should be. He removed the weights from the bars and stacked them by size. He took all the dumbbells and placed them on their respective racks. He used a wet sponge to clean the rubber mats, then stacked them one on top of another. He took out a mop and cleaned the floor, which also marked the end of his morning ritual.

"_Done in 27 minutes? That's a new record"_

Having done this work for nearly 5 years, he practically memorized everything about the place. He rest at the reception's counter and waits for the employees to come in. 2 minutes 42 seconds later, 23 year old receptionist/cashier, Karami Yokasia dashes to the punch cards and times in.

"*Exhale* 18 seconds to spare…. " She laughs in relief. To her horror, she finally realizes the presence of the young boy sitting on the counter. "Eh…..Raph-kun…. You're were here?"

"Oh no nono. I'm currently upstairs bathroom, taking a very long and very agonizing dump. Why do you ask?"

"Eh…. Um…. How much did you see?"

"That depends…. My lucky item this week is supposed to takoyaki…."

"That's a lie! Your lucky item is a black cat chain! Don't trick me coz I checked"

"Hm…. I could have sworn a beautiful young woman was nearly late…. I wonder what father would think-"

"Gr….. Fine! When you get back from school, I swear I'll buy you a set! Happy?"

"Hmm … I must have woken up too early … I guess I was just imagining things" The boy named Raph-kun replies with a shrug

The other employees entered one by one, and eventually, the early weight lifters started their morning workouts. With his work as the opener done for the morning, he heads back upstairs to prepare for school. Before he could reach the top of the stairs, a sleepy girl of ethereal beauty descends the stairs her eyes closed, she slowly walks down the stairs until softly bumps into his chest.

She takes a deep breath and exhales. In a sleepy voice, she says….

"Ani-sama …*yawn*… breakfast *grumble** grumble* ready" Angelica said, as if she recognized him by his scent

If someone would use a color to describe her, it would be _WHITE._ Nearly every hair on her body is white, from her straight waist long hair to her eyebrows. Her pearl white skin, combined with her petite body, she normally mistaken for a fairy. Ironically, their parents added a word that meant white to her name. Her full name is Angelica Shiro Norton, Ange for short.

On the other hand, the boy had short brown hair and a bit of a tan. He was a full head taller than the white girl, with a slightly muscular build thanks to the family business. The only physical characteristic he shares with his sister is their sky blue eyes. His full name is Raphael Arisato Norton, Raph for short.

It is clear from their name that they are not pure blood japanesse. Despite not resembling each other, they are, without a doubt, biological siblings.

'Get real! There is no such thing as natural white hair IRL! Those only exist in anime and manga!'- That is the typical reaction of a typical person, which is typically a wrong assumption.

Angelica suffers a genetic disorder called ALBINISM. ALBINISMis a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of tyrosinase, a copper-containing enzyme involved in the production of melanin. Because of this disorder, she gets sunburned easily, removing majority of outdoor activities from her can-do list.

"Thanks for the heads up" He replied. He tries to move up the stairs but Angelica continues to lean on him, preventing him to ascend. "Hey Angelica, can you get off of me?"

"No" She said in a spoiled brat manner

"How are we suppose to go get breakfast if we're stuck here?"

"Carry me"

"Well…. You see…. NO. You have two legs, use them" Raphael said, which was effectively ignored. His sister wraps her hands around his neck, then hangs on it.

"CA! RRY! ME!" She said in an even more spoiled brat manner.

"*sigh* Man… what will the other students think if they saw Angelica Shiro Norton ,aka THE ICE QUEEN, acting like a spoiled brat"

"Ani-sama is here…*yawn* don't care… zzzzz"

He heard a bit of suppressed laughter behind him. The early gym enthusiast can't help but be amused at their display. Luckily, they were all nice people, thus none of his sister's disgraceful actions are unknown to the public.

He sighs while accepting his fate. He picks up his sister in a princess carry, and then headed to the dining room. The moment he entered the room, the sweet aroma of fried rice and hotdogs hit his nose.

"Morning kidos! …."Said the man using the stove. When he turned around and saw Raphael carrying his sister ."I stand corrected. Morning Kido."

"Morning Pops" Raphael replied

His father, Thomas Norton, is the perfect example of the phrase _NEVER JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS COVER_. He sports brown hair similar to Raphael. His face and his body are commonly described as a mountain of muscle, lacking any sign of excess fat. Despite his fearsome appearance, he is currently wearing a pink apron with hello kitty prints on it. This is not exactly what one would expect from the owner of the GYM RAT gym.

"*sigh* And here I thought that there was still hope for that girl…. I guess like mother like daughter" His father said with a shrugged.

Raphael puts his sister down on the chair, right across her mother. Both of them had their heads on the table in a very unwomanly fashion.

"Yeah… like mother like daughter" Raphael agrees

His mother Ayime Yuuhi (now known as Ayime Norton) is similar to Angelica in many ways. Appearance-wise, the only real difference between them is age and people would say that one is the younger/older version of the other. Personality-wise, both are a bit arrogant due to their beauty and talent.

"Dad…. Sometimes I wonder how you got mom to marry you" He said while reflecting his mother's overbearing attitude.

"Hahaha! You have no idea how hard it was! It was like taking on a tank with nothing but a pair of nail cutters!"

His father began retelling, for the Xth time, how he (a 28 year old navy captain assigned to the Tokyo base) met Ayime Yuuhi (A stuck up genius, who was about to graduate college at the age of 20). Back then, Thomas Norton had a very dark secret that he kept buried from all his comrades.

He was, in fact, a closet otaku.

He, who grew up with a father who was just as eccentric as he is, was influenced into watching anime at a very young age. Both were closet otakus and, more surprisingly, both ended up in military installations. It goes without saying, when Thomas Norton was assigned to Japan, he was ecstatic beyond moment he reached Japan, he wasted no time and searched for a Japanese teacher.

Back then, Ayime Yuuhi was entering her last year of college in Tokyo University with the course of business administration. Despite her genius intellect, she was born into an average income family. Even with her scholarship, living in Tokyo was expensive beyond words. Thus to make end meet, she took up a part time job as a language teacher.

At this point, Thomas Norton cant help but brag about his accomplishment.

"Let me tell you son, trying to get her to talk about something else aside from the lesson was like trying to make a rock bleed….. no…. that would have been much easier. At least the rock doesn't give you a death glare with a failing grade" Thomas Norton said. If anything, this was his favorite line.

For 3 months, he suffered under her tyrannical teaching method, but on the flipside, he did learn at an astounding speed. By the end of their 3rd month, he can comprehend and speak 80% of the time. During this time, he also began having a decent amount of conversation with her. He also discovered her financial problems and promised to help her. Incidentally, he was planning to do what his father failed to do, to settle down in japan and find a hot Yamato Nadeshiko wife. Using every last bit of money he saved up and a bit of support from his father, he started up a business called the GYM RAT in Tokyo, with Ayime Yuuhi as his manager.

Back then, he had absolutely no intention of seducing the girl. This was his way of showing his appreciation to the one that helped him in his otaku quest. But after 1 year of solid partnership (4 months of that was also spent learning Japanese), the weird teacher-student/employee-employer relationship slowly changed into something else.

One thing led to another… and 20 years later, they now have 2 children. Oh… GYM RAT also now has 5 branches nationwide, but Thomas Norton only considers it as a bonus.

With both mother and sister still half asleep, breakfast proceeds peacefully. After bathing and school prepping, the true state of the family is revealed.

Her mother looked vicious with her navy blue business suit and thin rimmed glasses. She is currently analyzing yesterday's records with the eyes that would make little children pee their pants. She can only spare a glance and a very cute twinkle of her fingers to her children as they left for school. Despite the lack of any motherly response, the siblings know that Ayime Norton is horrible at intrapersonal relationships, and the small wave was probably one of the best displays of affection she can force herself to do.

Angelica Shiro Norton looked just as sharp as her mother with her black school uniform. She also wore black leather gloves that covered her entire arm, making her look like a high class lady. Note: she wears them out of necessity, which helps reduces her skin exposure to the sun. She normally brings a parasol with her for the same reason as the gloves.

They said good bye to their parents and everyone they know, then headed to school. The moment they stepped out of the gym, they met a fellow student from their school.

"HONEY!" He said. He dashes to Angelica with arms wide open but was quickly stopped when Raphael blocked his path. "Uh…. Oni-sama? Why are you standing between me and my love?"

"I just saved your life…. Be grateful Gino" Raphael said in a hushed tone.

Gino Karasuba is a young Japanese male with slightly long black hair and brown eyes. As their next door neighbor, he Norton family has known him and his family ever since the gym started. With his looks, he could easily be labeled as an "Incredibly Handsome Protagonist" from some shounen manga

"Eh? Why?" the boy named Gino replied, his face filled with confusion

"Ange was about to bash your head with her new, heavy duty parasol"

Behind him, an angelic yet very sadistic voice said….

"Ani-sama, there is a pest in front of you. Please move aside, I will exterminate it" Angelica said while preparing to swing her parasol like a bat.

"Is that any way to treat your boyfriend?" Gino said in despair.

"Boyfriend? HA! Don't fool yourself! Ani-sama's insistence was the only reason I gave you a 1 month trial run. Without him, I wouldn't even give you a second glance" Angelica replied cruelly

Gino turns to Raphael with puppy dog eyes.

"Raphael Oni-sama! Please help me!"

"*sigh* I told you from the start, my words can only get you so far." Raphael replies, much to Gino's disdain.

These type of overly exaggerated conversations are every day occurrences for the trio as they head towards school. As usual, Raphael and Gino walked next to each other while talking about MMORPG stuff, while Angelica walked 3 paces behind them, clearly not understanding one bit of their topic.

"By the ways, hows that VRMMORPG you were beta testing back in September?" Raphael asks

"Its called SWORD ART ONLINE…. And its AWESOME! No…. the badassery of it cant be described by mere words alone!" Gino replies with enthusiasm

"Tch…. Lucky bastard... I even submitted an application form…. Why the hell did it choose you and not me?"

"HAHAHA! Damn right I'm lucky! I am luck personified! Praise me! Call me Gino-sama!" Gino said exaggeratedly.

Raphael cant help but be jealous of Gino. Among tens of thousands of applicants for the beta testing of SWORD ART ONLINE (SAO for short),his retarded friend got the winning draw. As the very first VRMMORPG of its kind, SAO ignited the gamer souls of countless MMORPG players. To no ones surprise, the company Argus was swamped with letter of applications for beta testing after 10 minutes of its announcement. Raphael reminisces at the memory where he and Gino took out their phones to submit their application….. in the middle of class. They got into some serious scolding after that… but its worth it in the end.

At least for one of them

"Fu fu fu" an angelic laugh came from behind the duo. "Luck Personified? And here I thought Harold Camping's claim that the rapture was coming was retarded. Congratulations Gino, you just impressed me" Angelica said sarcastically

"Easy on the insults Ange. He still has feelings you know" Raphael softly tells off his sister.

"….. fine…." Angelica replies, clearly displeased.

"A-anyways, don't hold back Gino, give me the dirt" Raphael said in an attempt to change the subject.

Fortunately, Gino is a gamer to the core and the opportunity to gloat about one's superiority is the essence of being a gamer. His face turned from depressed puppy eyed look to arrogant prick in .5 seconds flat.

In the corner of Raphael's eye, he can see his sister face turned from calm and composed bishoujo to _something disgusting is nearby_ face and back to calm and composed bishoujo in .5 seconds flat.

"_*sigh*…. Maybe setting them up was a mistake…."_ Raphael thought but decided to disregard the issue

"Fu fu fu! Be thankful Raph coz I am Gino-sama! I shall teach you all I have learned during the beta testing!" Gino said, then began explaining to his partner-in-crime the basics of SAO

Gino explained that as the name suggested, SWORD ART ONLINE is a game that puts heavy emphasis in the beauty of sticking a thin piece of steel up someone's hindquarters. Unlike the past games the duo has played, SAO is a VRMMORPG running on a hardware called Nerve Gear, thus no more mouse clicking marathon in front of the monitor. The Nerve Gear completely controls player's consciousness by redirecting the signals the brain sends to the body and sending its own waves to stimulate the five senses. In short, the player feels like he is truly in the fantasy world, doing inhuman feats like fighting bigger monsters.

"In even shorter short, the player is actually doing what every man dreams of doing….. BEING A BADASS!" Gino exclaimed

"Wooooo! That sounds so hardcore! How about the battle system? A badass game must have some sort of badass battle system" Raphael said in a very pumped up manner

"Hold on hold on, I'm getting there" Gino said in delight

Gino continued his explanation.

In SAO, there is no MAGIC except for the different colored crystals that bring instant effects, instead players can fight using their SWORD SKILLS. SWORD SKILLS are programmed movements assisted by the system after a player performs the initial movement. In short, the player must move his avatar perfectly in order to activate the skills. On the other hand, it is possible to fight without them, but such attacks are weak and normally ineffective.

"Anyways, you'll have to experience it for yourself to appreciate the badassness of the game. Lucky for you, I know someone from Argus. He agreed to reserve us copies! " Gino added

Raphael drops to his knees and bows like he was worshiping a god

"Oh Great and All Mighty Gino-sama! The world is truly blessed with your existence!" Raphael exaggeratedly said

"MWAHAHAHA! Praise me! Glorify me!"

Nearby students heading the same direction cant help but laugh at their display

"*giggle* Looks like the Empress and her fools are at it again" Said a couple of passersby.

Unfortunately for the poor girls, Angelica heard it. She shot a death glare at them, filled with hate and malice that could turn a man into a pussy. The girls shook uncomfortably then quickened their pace as if to run away from her glare

No…. they were really running away from her glare. The other passersby decided to keep their comments to themselves and move on.

At school, Raphael and Gino were widely known as avid gamers. Add the fact that both enjoyed acting like idiots from an anime show, they were lovingly dubbed as THE FOOLS. Of course, the nickname has no malice attached to it, simply because both of them are in good terms with everyone.

On the other hand, Angelica clearly states that she hates such nicknames were connected to Raphael. She makes an effort for everyone to feel the same, usually forcing them to shut up using her death glare. Add the fact that she has an aura of superiority around her, she earned the nickname THE EMPRESS. Raphael takes great effort to convince everyone else not to hate her.

Raphael stops acting like a retard and approaches his sister.

"Relax Ange, no harm done"

Angelica looks back at him with an annoyed expression

"Ani-sama, why do you allow this to happen? I don't mind if Gino gets called a fool-"

"Hey! I resent that!" Gino inserts but was effectively ignored by Angelica

"- but you are far from being a fool. I don't like it when people call you that"

"It's something similar to how men freely insult each other. I guess fun to act like a fool" Raphael replies

Angelica looks at him confused yet dejected face.

"…. I really don't like when I don't understand you…."

Raphael pats her head affectionately

"Hmm… sorry, I really cant think of any words of wisdom for that…."

Angelica blushed and allowed him to pat her head

"…. Its…. Fine…"

"Oy… It really hurts to be ignored you know…" Gino meekly inserts himself to the situation

"Anyways" Angelica turns her attention to Gino" So… when will my copy of this… SAO thing arrive?"

"Eh?" Said the two boys

"You heard me! When will my SAO thing arrive?"

"Err… didn't you hate MMORPG's?" Raphael asks

"I do…. But if I'm ever going to understand Ani-sama, I might as well try this online games that you love so much" Angelica replies. "Now, when will my SAO arrive?"

After a few minutes and a few more insults, Gino calls his contacts from Argus and secured another copy for the launch happening tomorrow.

"Fu fu fu…. I am in your care then, Ani-sama" Angelica said with a curtsy

The duo cant helped but be worried about their future in SAO.

-:-

November 6, 2022

"Hmm…" Raphael takes a quick look at the manual before returning to his assembling project. It didn't really take that much effort to assemble 2 Nerve Gears at the same time, and he didn't really need to read the manual to do it.

"_One can never be too sure"_ He thought to himself.

Raphael has a habit of researching every bit of information about a topic of his interest. In his previous MMORPG, the 2D AESIR ONLINE, he tried every class just to get a feel how they work. Unfortunately, it resulted on a long delay before he could decide which of the avatars was his main character. Thanks to his curiosity, he was able to form tactics on how to attack and defend against those classes. Gino and Raphael soon became gods of pvp because of their effective tactics.

"Ani-sama, hurry up" said Angelica who was reading a fashion magazine on her bed.

"Patience sis. Assembling things isn't really my strong point" He replied calmly

"Hai" Angelica replied and returned to her magazine. "But I'm impressed, Gino actually kept his word. Our very own SAO and Nerve Gears arrived 6 in the morning, right?" Raphael nods without looking back "I now see that insect in a new light."

"Ha ha ha, can't remove the insults from your system can you"

"I'm not insulting him. I'm just stating the obvious facts"

"Ha ha ha" Raphael laughs in futility. He cant help but be a bit sad for Gino. Despite Raphael's best efforts, he simply cant change Angelica's attitude.

After a few minutes of connecting cables and manipulating the programs, he hands a nerve gear to his sister and walks back to his bed.

The Norton siblings share the same bedroom with only their computers separating them.

"Remember, just as we agreed on yesterday"

"Yeah yeah…. The retard's name is GAWAIN, mine is CZARINA and Ani-sama's avatar is named FAUX. Correct?"

"As expected of the child genius who could be in high school right now if she felt like it"

True enough, just like their mother, Angelica is also a genuine genius. With an IQ of 179 (-1 of their mother's IQ), she is known to constantly find the subject matter in school as _TOO EASY_. The Norton siblings are both in 2nd year middle school but majority of the teachers believes that Angelica's knowledge could easily cope up with 2nd year high school subjects.

The main problem is she is emotionally unstable…..just like her mother.

Her councilor once talked to Raphael in secret, and told him that he was probably the most important emotional support she has. He also told his family (Angelica excluded) that separating them from each other would probably result on her being crushed by whatever insecurities she has.

Of course none of them believed it at first, but the councilor presented one concrete proof: Angelica's perfect manipulation of her grades to keep her at the same grade as Raphael. At times, she would get a perfect score in her test, but the moment that she felt that her grades are getting too high, she would pass a blank sheet of paper on the following tests, effectively lowering her grade to match his.

After many discussions, they consulted the principal of the school and he agreed to keep the siblings in the same class as long as both maintain their grades in a reasonable level.

Raphael hoped that by setting up Angelica and his best friend Gino, she would be able to overcome her emotional stress.

So far, it was a complete failure

"_Well…. I'll figure something out" _He thought as he placed the Nerve Gear over his head

After giving Angelica some final advice, he lied down on his bed and said…

"LINK START"

-:-

After the darkness, there was light.

The moment Czarina recovered her sight, the world overwhelms her through sheer beauty. She was in the middle of a massive circular medieval plaza that simply did not exist in the real world. Everywhere she looked, the fantasy themed world kept her jaws glued to the floor.

"_This is one of the video games I labeled as THE WORLD FOR THE CHILDISH AND NO-LIVES PEOPLE? Really?"_

No matter how much she looks at it, the world around her looks as convincingly real as the real world. She admits to herself, she has underrated the gaming industry far too much.

"_Oh yeah, the meeting place"_

She turns around and follows the directions given to them by Gino- no, its Gawain now.

"_Exit the plaza through the largest entrance….. then take a left at the first corner…. And a right at a small alley…. Then follow it until you reach a small fountain…. Easy enough"_

She went past merchants and thousands of other players and noticed something

"_So many pretty girls…."_

Nearly half of the people she passed were girls with the beauty equal to the ones she sees in her fashion mags. She can't help but be worried of the large number of possible competitions she might have regarding her special person.

"_Oh yeah! What did Ani-sama said about this issue?"_

She remembers Raphael's very 1st advice about MMORPGS

Out of the entire player population, 98% of them are MALE, regardless of what they say or their avatar's gender. Out of the 2% true FEMALE players, 99% of them have looks ranging from plain to something out of a zombie film.

"Then what about the last 1%?" Angelica asked her brother

"The 1% would be the incredibly beautiful girls that shouldn't exist in the virtual world. You know… girls such as yourself"

"I see…." Angelica said in a disinterested manner while pretending to read the SAO manual to hide her embarrassment.

That was a few minutes before full dive.

"_Speaking of appearance"_

She looks at her reflection from a nearby window. What stared back at her looked nothing like her original appearance. She sports long black hair, red eyes and pinkish glowing skin. Following Gawain's advice, she maintained her real height to prevent disorientation. She took a good 10 minutes in reconfiguring her looks in an attempt to make her look like a Yamato Nadeshiko.

"_I hope he likes my look"_

She navigates the small streets for a few more seconds until she reaches a modest looking fountain in a small corner. On the edge of the fountain sits a tall beautiful girl with short wavy cobalt blue hair. Despite her looks, she wears the default male clothes instead of the mini skirt that females normally wear.

Surrounding her are 2 abnormally handsome male players, attempting to flirt with her.

"Isnt it a waste for such a beauty like you to wear pants? Why not show off those perfect legs of yours" said a guy

The girl kept her arms crossed in annoyance

"*sigh* Girls are too liberal these days. Anyways, if that's your pick up line, then you guys must be virgin failures IRL" The girl said in as a matter of fact way

"W-what? Just because your pretty doesn't mean you got the right to get cocky"

The girl face palms and sigh out of pity

"Good lord…. Not being able to take a harsh rejection clearly indicates that you boys lack the social exposure to even get laid... I feel so sorry for you" The girl is clearly trying to piss them off, and its working

The 2 men draws their one handed swords

"You bitch! Who do you think you are?" One of them points his sword menacingly but the girl continues to fan the flames of hatred

In a panic, Czarina draws her two handed sword NOVICE HEAVY BLADE and readies herself to come to the girl's aid. A hand grabs her shoulders, stopping her movements. She turned around and saw a tall muscular man with blond hair, sporting a friendly smile.

"Calm down, I'll handle this" He said as he moves forward without the waiting Czarina's reply. "Oi Faux! Sorry I'm late!" He shouted to the girl

"Took your damn time Gawain…. Let me guess, you flirted with a girl didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged"

"And you got shot down"

"Ugh! That's harsh"

The 2 men turns and realizes that they were cornered causing them to panic a bit. One of them suddenly realizes something

"Faux? Gawain? No way… the gods of the colosseum from AESIR Online?"

"Hey Gawain…. Were we famous?" The girl named Faux asks

"Hmm… we may have pvped too much…. I mean, one time, we turned the colosseum in Terapron city into a graveyard" Gawain answered nonchalantly

"Oh yeah… we did do that once… well, whatever" Faux turned her attention back to the men. "Well, there you have it. Even if we are in the same level right now, me and Gawain have massive experience in PVP." She puts her hand behind her and draws her dagger. Gawain does the same and draws his shield and sword. " So… what now?" Faux calmly asks the men.

The men look at each other then bolted out of their sight. Faux lets out a small giggle at their performance.

"Ha ha ha, I bet they were MMORPGs noobs even back in AESIR. Everyone knows that you cant fight in a town" Faux says

"All's well that ends well" Gawain said as he walk towards Faux

"Faux? Gawain?" A small voice finally escapes the girl's lips. "Ani-sama? Gino?"

-:-

The trio has currently exited the town and is heading for their first training field.

Raphael… no, right now he is using the female knife wielder Faux, so he shall refer to himself as a female from this point onwards.

Faux is currently in a pinch. Her sister Czarina, though silent, is furious at her. Czarina calmly (though she used her death stare) demanded an explanation for her gender change.

Faux main reason is simple, to abuse the fact that majority of men becomes dumber when it comes to females. With a bit of cool beauty acting, she could get lots of help, party invites to boss raids and eventually, high level items.

"You….. Ani-sama…. You would trample on the good will of others just to make yourself stronger? That's disgusting." Said Czarina

"Oh no no no. You misunderstand 1 simple thing. I always return the favor one way or another"

Czarina suddenly makes a horrified face

"_*sigh* She's letting her imagination run wild…."_

"D-d-don't tell me…. You d-d-d-date them?" Czarina said hysterically

"_Yup…. Her imagination is running wild"_

"*sigh* Of course not. I share information with them and I sometimes temporarily join their guild to help out. But more importantly, I'm useful to anyone coz I know him" Faux points to Gawain

"Why?"

Faux cues Gawain to speak, which he has been dying to do

"Because I am one of the strongest players in AESIR online." He said with his chest puffed

In AESIR Online, Gawain, AKA "The Knight Of The Sun", is a tanker type Paladin. With the ability to heal himself combined with his absurdly high defense, he became the most sought off tanker in boss hunts. Faux hates to admit it, but her assassin type Rouge cannot win against Gawain, no matter what.

"I see… Though I still find changing your gender as disgusting, I guess I'll let it slide for now." Czarina said with a sigh. "Oh by the way, why did those to rejects call both you as the _Gods of the Colosseum_?"

"Hahahaha! Now that is mostly thanks to Faux!" Gawain said loudly

Terapron Colosseum is a massive labyrinth accessible only by high level players. Though exceedingly hard, it is possible to memorize the entire area, which is exactly what Faux did. Using the well known Gawain as bait, Faux would use the thousands of small passages to attack and disappear before anyone notices. At one point, they were able to reduce the normal population of 100+ daily pvpers to 2 for 1 hour, which gained them the unofficial title of Gods of the Colosseum.

"Hmm… I guess I truly underrated the video game industry. Who knew you could get rock star status in a game." Czarina said while in deep thought

"Give it a chance, I'm sure you'll see our world in a very different light" Faux replies

"…. If you say so Ani-…. Faux"

-:-

In the previous generation of keyboards and monitors, the only thing that gamers ever moved where their hands. Though there was the occasional trip to the kitchen or bathroom, but hands, eyes and brain were the only ones exceedingly active during gaming sessions.

Thanks to the Nerve Gear, players are given the experience of actually moving their body when fighting an opponent. Button mashing ill compares to the exhilaration of literally facing off against the enemy.

Faux exhales and reassess her situation. She currently fighting a blue boar, official name is FRENZY BOAR, and is considered the weakest of the weak. In AESIR Online, it would be the equivalent of a PORING minus the cute appearance. Thanks to Gawain's precise SWORD SKILL tutorial, she could easily beat the boar if she wanted to. Unfortunately, she enjoyed the feel of moving her own body while dodging, thus delayed on killing it. Thanks to her show boating, she accidentally lured 2 more boars.

"_1 with red hp, 2 with full…. Now.. how do I do this?"_

A full health boar charges from her right and the one in the left followed 1 second later. She swings her dagger at the boar's tusk at the right to force it into the path of the left. The one of the left crashed into its ally, taking 20% of its hp.

Faux capitalizes, she puts her dagger into reverse grip and she readies to lunge. The dagger shines blue as the system recognizes her stance and finally, her body moves with inhuman grace. She lunges with her dagger raised and activates the basic dagger skill [STAB]. The blow lands at its weakness, the back of the head, killing it instantly. She changes grip back to normal and sidesteps to avoid the boar from the left. The moment the boar moves past her, her dagger is raised with a white glow, then lets loose a sword skill shared by light weight weapons with a stabbing edge, [LINEAR]. Once again, the blow lands at the back of the head, effectively killing it.

"_For the win!" _Faux thought.

She sets her eyes on the boar with the red hp. It charges at her with reckless abadon, which she prepares to meet head on. She reverses her grip and lowers her body, then lunges at it while using [STAB]. The blow lands right between the eyes as it breaks into blue polygons.

With a large grin of satisfaction, she twirls her blade in her hand before slipping it back into its sheath. She looks around and spots her partners already waiting for her.

"Damn Faux…. Just damn…." Gawain said with a face of awe. "And here we were, getting ready to help you out. Seriously man, are you sure you didn't go through the beta period?"

"I wouldn't ask you any tips if I was a beta tester. Besides, I don't think I even did anything special back there. I bet anyone can take down those boars without breaking a sweat"

"Youre right, but no newbie can take 3 at the same time. Not to mention, you're using a dagger for gods sakes!" Gawain exclaimed

"I guess its just a matter of play style" Faux said with a shrug

In SAO, there are many types of weapons to suite the players preference.

The one hand sword is the most used because of its perfect balance of weight, reach and killing range. In addition, its biggest advantage is the use of a shield for tanking purposes. Other commonly used one hand swords are those that use overwhelming speed and accuracy at the price of damage and shield protection, such as rapiers or estocs.

Gawain belongs to the people who prefer tanking over anything

Next up are the two weapons such as two hand swords, axes and spears. One of their main advantage lies in their long reach, allowing the wielder to strike beyond the opponents reach. Polearms such as spears are the ones that make full use of this advantage. Another advantage of two hand weapons is their weight, which allows them to smash through the opponent's defense with sheer power. Due to their weight and length, it takes a bit of time to set up one move after another.

Czarina currently wields a two hand sword

"Hmmm…. Now that I think about it, why did you choose a two hand sword?" Faux asks Czarina. "I guessed you as someone who prefers being graceful, was I wrong?"

Czarina remains silent for a second

"Ani-… Faux, didn't you say that girls with large swords are cute?" She said without looking at Faux

"Yeah… I did say that. What about it?"

Czarina takes peek at Faux then quickly looks away

"….. Nevermind…." Czarina said. She then refused to talk anymore

"Weird girl…" Faux said with a shrug

Back to the topic

The final weapon class is the small, light weight weapons, knives. It isn't as popular as the swords due to its small reach and damage, but dagger wielders turned these to advantages. Its compact size and light weight allowed it to launch consecutive attacks with little to no delay. The greatest advantage it can offer is its perfect synergy with the support skill [ACROBATICS], allowing the user to jump high without any fear of weight restriction.

Though the thought of jumping around like a ninja is very attractive, Faux has other plans, thus she avoided learning [ACROBATICS] at the very get go. She will eventually learn it, but not right now.

"Well then, how do you like the gamers world Czarina?" Faux asks

Czarina stays silent for a second then sighs.

"I admit, I have been biased in my views. SAO exceed even my wildest expectations. Whoever created the Nerve Gear and this world deserves to be filthy rich"

"So…. Do you have any plans of continuing this game?"

Once again, Czarina becomes silent for a second. She looks straight at Faux and asks

"Ani-…. Faux,will you keep playing this game?"

"Ofcourse! My gamer soul wont let me rest if I don't play"

"….. Then I'll continue on as well." She faces Gawain and bows. "Despite my discomfort…. I'll be in your care"

"Oy! That hurts you know!" Gawain replies

They continued their meaningless talk as they moved to their next hunting ground with gusto.

-:-

Faux has to give Gawain a lot of credit, his way of teaching is not only precise, but also easy to learn. Faux's ability to learn fast is not surprising because of her large exposure to anime and online games. The one with the surprising fast development is Czarina. In just a few hours of playing and a few pointers from Gawain, no one would believe her if she told them that SAO is Czarina's first MMORPG.

Faux and Gawain has already finished killing off their respective mobs, and now are watching Czarina finish off her current enemy.

She stands at the ready with her sword resting over her right shoulder, waiting for the boar to charge. The boar makes its move and charges at her. Her sword glows brightly in red as she puts both hands on the handle. The moment the boar comes within her range, she executes the basic two sword art [BASH] and violently swings down, slicing the boar in half and causing the ground to shake a bit. Thanks to her high burst damage, hitting its weak spot wasn't even necessary.

"Nice work sis. Without a doubt, you're gonna be a top player in this game." Faux said as she pats Czarina on the head

"Hmph. That's already given. If I get serious, I will be sitting at the very top soon enough, and that is a fact" She said arrogantly, but she doesn't shrug of the pat

"Yeah… Even I'm impressed" Gawain said. "If you keep this up, the name CZARINA might end up as a name that everyone knows"

"Fu fu fu… Naturally" Czarina said as the two inflates her ego non stop

"Anyways, I need to logout for a bit. I still got a bit of work to do" Faux said

"Work? I thought we already finished our homework back at school yesterday?" Czarina asks.

Seeing how they belonged to the same section, it was natural for the siblings to do their homework together

"Oh no no no. I've got some stuff at the gym to take care off. A couple of bikes snapped their chains. I already brought the replacement chains, so the repair wont take long. 20-30 minutes tops"

"Cant you do that tomorrow or something?" Gawain complains

"Dude…. You know how my mom is right?"

Their faces drain of color as they recall all the times Ayime Norton went berserk

"…. Right…. Might not be a good idea to piss your mom off. I guess me and Czarina will go at it for a while. Make it quick Faux, we might leave your level in the dust" Gawain said

"I'm logging out as well. You can level up by yourself, Gawain" Said Czarina

"Eh? Why?"

"Obviously, I'm going to help Ani-sama to make the repairs faster. And besides, do you really expect to leave a delicate flower such as myself alone with a..." She looks at Gawain. "… virgin brute such as yourself?"

"_Delicate flower….. yeah right"_ thought Faux

"Ouch it hurts! Why cant you be act like a delicate flower for once" Gawain said

"What did you say?" Czarina puffs her chest and makes a threatening posture. "Are you implying that I am not a delicate flower?"

They then entered their typical cycle. Czarina throws heavy damaging insults just like her two hand sword, while Gawain takes it all, like a tank that he is. On the sidelines, Faux laughs at their display.

"_Fu fu fu. Dad did say _**the more you hate, the more you love. **_I do hope that their bickering will blossom into something else"_ Thought Faux

Faux waves her hand to access the menu. Her hand moves automatically to the bottom of the menu….. then her hand freezes

"Eh…. Where's the log out button?"

At that point, the world and its rules have changed.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Welcome to THE WORLD

-:-

"….. this is bad isn't it…" Faux said calmly

"…. Yeah…. In more ways than one" Gawain replies

The trio is currently sitting in the fields where they hunted Blue Boars earlier, 10 minutes after discovering the game breaking bug. Faux and Gawain has been throwing theories after theories about the subject matter, while Czarina stands as a look out against the boars.

Faux can tell, despite Czarina's calm behavior, she is as nervous as they are. She has been unconsciously squeezing the grip of her sword to relieve tension.

For now, they have organized what little information they have.

First, the logout button is missing from the menu and no emergency logout mechanisms are available. With the Nerve Gear intercepting the signals of the brain and sending it to their avatar, their real body is in a comatose state. They couldn't remove the Nerve Gear from their head manually no matter how hard they tried. The hope of manually removing the Nerve Gear lies on the people on the other side. Unfortunately, there is no way for the people outside to know about their current situation, thus they cant expect to get any outside support for now.

Second, no matter how much they try to contact the GM's, no response was heard. Maybe they were in a state of panic, and decided not to take any calls until the bug is fixed? Whatever the reason is, it's not making the players feel any better.

Third and probably the most disturbing fact is the lack of any actions from the GMs and outside staff. If they wanted to log everyone out, all they need to do is to cut the power to the servers. Something really bad must have happened if they couldn't even do that.

"Hey Gawain, did the menu layout change during the beta test?" Faux asks Gawain

"Unfortunately no. Aside from the logout button, everything is right where it should be."

"Tch… damn. One theory down the drain"

"Well, look at the bright side" Gawain said with enthusiasm that he clearly does not have

"What bright side?"

"A few years back, both of us wished that the real world was like in the games right?"

"Oh…. OH! We did wish for that didn't we?"

"Hell yeah! We might be starting our very own adventure to kill the demon king on the top floor!"

"This could be the adventure of a life time all geeks have been waiting for!"

"Hell yeah!"

Anxiety builds up as each passing second goes by. The two tries to make light of the situation with half assed theories and lame jokes, but deep inside, they were scared as hell. Faux suddenly feels a weight on her back, she takes a look behind her to see Czarina hugging her from behind. She also notices that Czarina is shaking uncontrollably

"…. Ani-sama…. I'm scared" Czarina says in a small voice

Faux holds her hand and says

"… Your not the only one sis"

With that said, their fear is now out in the open. Any jokes wouldn't make a dent on the heavy atmosphere.

*Ding**Ding*

The soft yet disturbingly dreadful sound of bells ring across the land, surprising the trio in the process. The afternoon sun does well in setting the mood for doom and gloom. If someone was watching a movie, the scene right now is perfect for something horrible to happen.

Without warning, the three is bathed in blue light.

"Holy Sh-" Is the only words Faux was able to squeeze out, as she disappears into the blue.

The next thing she saw was a familiar circle plaza that she visited earlier. It is the spawning point at the middle of the STARTING CITY. She looks around and sees thousands of players, 10 thousand to be exact, with the same confused look as her. To her right, Czarina suddenly grabs her hand, out of fear of being separated again. On her left, Gawain looks around while trying to understand the situation.

"Oi, what just happened? How did we get here?" Faux asks Gawain

"That visual effect… It was TELEPORT that normally uses a crystal as a catalyst. But those things are expensive as hell, and they don't appear until we move a few floors up."

"So how did we get here?"

"My guess is that it was a forced summon….. but the only one who has the authority to do a mass summon is-"

"A GM" Faux finishes the sentence. "But without any prior notice?"

"Hmm…. A surprise event maybe?" Gawain said, his voice lacking the confidence in his own words

"Ah…. Look up!" Said a loud voice which takes everyones attention.

The trio looks up to see a red flashing button 100 meters above them. Faux can make out the WARNING and SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT on the button.

"Finally, some answers" Gawain said in relief

Faux, on the other hand, didn't share his sentiments.

"_I have a bad feeling about this"_ She thought to herself. _"Never the less, I need answers and I need it now"_

The plaza becomes quiet as every player waited for the system announcement.

The next event was not exactly what a system announcement that Faux had in mind.

Large amounts of thick red liquid that looked like blood oozed from the button. Instead of hitting the floor, it started congealing into a shape about a few meters above the crowd. The liquid twisted and turned until it took a shape of a 20 meter tall man covered in red hooded robe. The black space where the face is supposed to be further cements the bad feeling Faux has been experiencing.

"That's an avatar that the GM's used during the beta test" Said Gawain. "But back then, the face is normally of an old man with a long beard"

Murmurs spread as many players seemed to have came to the same conclusion

The GM's right hand moves as if to silence the players. It then raises both arms as if welcoming someone, then a low calm male voice said….

"**Players, I welcome you all to my world"**

The bad feeling that Faux has been experiencing just got worse after hearing those words.

"_I welcome you to MY world?"_ Faux thought _" Based on what Gawain said, this guy is a GM. Sure enough, GMs have enough authority to play god in this world. But to claim this world as his own?"_

As if to dispel her confusion, the hooded figure lower his hands and said

"**My name is Akihiko Kayaba. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world."**

With the punch line delivered, the audience's jaws hit the floor.

The name that nearly every gamer exalts. The game designer and a genius in the quantum physics field that took the unknown company named Argus and placed it on the map. The man who designed the Nerve Gear and helped gamers realize their dreams of personally going on an adventure of a life time. The man who created SWORD ART ONLINE, the venue where gamers go on their adventures. Who wouldn't know that name?

But Faux and all of the players soon finds out, Akihiko Kayaba is a man with a very cruel sense of humor. His next punch lines are killers… literally.

"**I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the Log Out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug; it is all part of SWORD ART ONLINE's system."**

"Part of... the system?" Said a long red haired man somewhere in front of Faux

The hooded figure continues his outrageous announcement, ignoring any responses

"**Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will."**

First punch line and he has the audience by the nose.

"**... also, the disruption or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted..."**

A moment of tense silence. If someone drops a pin during this time frame, it would have sounded like a bomb

"**The signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions."**

The second and probably most agonizing punch line surprises the crowd. The words themselves sounded like a joke.

_Destroying your brain? Stopping all of your basic functions?_

Its as if Akihiko Kayaba is telling the players that removing the Nerve Gear will lead to their death. Maybe its because, like Faux, not being able to completely comprehend what Kayaba said, or maybe simply refusing to understand it, there was no panic amongst the players.

"Oi…. This is a bad joke right Faux? Frying our brains with the Nerve Gear? That's crazy talk" Gawain said in disbelief

Unfortunately, Faux couldn't agree with him. He read somewhere once that any electrical device produces radiation. It goes without saying that the Nerve Gear uses radio waves and electrical pulses to function as it should. If the wavelength of the radio waves were pushed higher than the safety limits, then the Nerve Gear would cause DIELECTRIC HEATING.

DIELECTRIC HEATING is the process in which a high-frequency alternating electric field, or radio wave or microwave electromagnetic radiation heats a dielectric material. At high frequencies, it is possible to turn the Nerve Gear into a Microwave Oven.

Faux told Gawain this, and he was not happy about it

"Considering the fact that 30% of the Nerve Gears weight comprises of the battery, a 1 time EMP is possible" Faux explains

"….. How do you know this stuff?" Gawain asks

"It's all in the manual." She replies

As if to clarify their fatal situation, the robed figure continues to speak

"**To be a little more specific, disconnection from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to: unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully remove the Nerve Gear. The result..."**

Kayaba takes a small breath then continues

"**... regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world, forever."**

As if the second punch line wasn't enough. The third punch line hurts similarly to rubbing salt on an open wound.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Gawain laughed dryly. "I see! This is some sick opening ceremony! If your scaring us, good job man! You got us good!"

Faux would be very happy if that were the case. Unfortunately, her instincts tell her that Akihiko Kayaba is dead serious about this.

As if to confirm her fears, Kayaba's resumed his explanation.

"**Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies you left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and Internet media are repeatedly reporting this situation; including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have provided, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax... and concentrate on beating the game."**

"What are you saying!? Beat the game!? You want us to play around in a situation like this!? THIS ISNT A GAME ANYMORE!" roars a black haired player who stands beside the red head that spoke out earlier.

"Damn Straight!" Faux roars in agreement

To their words, the hooded figure simply answered in an emotionless tone

"**But I ask of you all to understand that «Sword Art Online» is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality... From now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever. And at the same time..."**

Taking the current trend into consideration, his next line is so easy to predict

"**... your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear."**

Faux turns her attention to the thin green bar on top of her vision.

**HP: **330/330

"_This bar and numbers represents my life? If it reaches 0, I'll die?"_ Faux thought in denial _"Oi oi… I know I once wished that the real world would be more like the ones in the games, but this is ridiculous!"_

SWORD ART ONLINE is now a game where all the players are gambling with their lives. It is now a death game

"_Ha ha ha…. Shit just got real"_ Faux thought in dismay

"**Players, there is only one way to be freed from this game. As I have said before, you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor, and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word."**

And so, the great comedian name Akihiko Kayaba delivers the final punch line. The audience cant help but stare at the hooded figure in disbelief. They now understand what he meant by CASTLE earlier.

It meant the monstrous structure that they are currently within, with 99 more floors stacked on top of them. It meant that in order to escape, they have to go through Aincard itself

"Clear... all 100 floors!?" The red head player roars with his fist up in the sky. "And how do you want us to do that? I heard that getting up was crazy hard even during the beta testing!"

Based on Gawain's stories, during the 6 month beta test, they only made it up to the 8th floor. Even if the players were multiplied by ten, it would still take a considerable amount time to clear 100 floors. Faux could also tell that a lot of players around her were thinking about the same thing.

Despite all the heavy hitting punch lines, panic still has not started. Most of the audience still has not realized how dangerous their situation is. Most of them probably still believed that it was some sick joke by the Argus employees.

As usual, the robed man cant help but destroy what little hope they have left

"**Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories, there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this."**

Just like everyone else in the plaza, Faux waves her hand to access the inventory menu. Within it was a single item called HAND MIRROR. In confusion, she takes out the object from her inventory. Just as the name implies, it was a simple rectangular hand mirror.

"_Is this suppose to do something?"_ Faux thought

"AH!" said a voice on her right.

Faux checks on Czarina as she was engulfed by a pillar of blue light. Before she could even rush to help her sister, Faux was engulfed as well.

2 to 3 seconds later, the light dies down and everything returns to where they were

…. No… that's not it….

In front of Faux was the snow white angel that he has gotten used to. Faux quickly turns to check on Gawain, but once again, the sight that meets him was a black haired incredibly handsome protagonist that he knows so well. Gawain stares back at Faux and says

"Raph?"

"Eh? Gino?" Faux said. He instantly realizes the change of tone in his voice. He uses the hand mirror and is surprised of what he saw.

"Its…. Me?" Faux asks himself.

The sharp looking, skiny, short haired girl was nowhere to be seen. In her place was a teenager with light brown hair, slightly tanned skin and a slightly muscular build.

"A-ani-sama? W-why am I here?" Ange-… Czarina says with a voice full of anxiety

"Calm down Ange-… I mean Czarina, calm down" Faux said, though he isn't exactly following his own advice

He looks around and saw that the male to female ratio drastically changed. No longer was the plaza filled with handsome and beautiful protagonists from some anime, but a bunch of normal and extremely confused young people.

"Gino-… I mean Gawain, how did my real face end up here?" Faux asks Gawain

"There are high density signal sensors in the Nerve Gear covering our whole head. So it can tell not only how our brains look, but our faces as well" Gawain said. "And remember what you guys did after school yesterday?"

"You mean that thing where we touched our body in a few places? That Calibration thing?"

Gawain explains that Calibration was where the Nerve Gear measured how much you had to move your hand to reach your body. This was done to reproduce the sense of kinetic accurately within the game. Based on what Faux has seen in Aincard, creating a perfect polygon replica of their real bodies is easily possible.

"So much effort… the perfect physical replication, the realistic world and even the technology to imprison ten thousand players… who knows how many months it took just to make all of these to work… but for what? What's the point of it all?" Gawain angrily asks Faux

"Patience. He is gonna tell us in a bit" Faux said as he points to the hooded man.

"**You will all most probably be wondering, "Why." Why am I—the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko—doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?"**

Though Faux isn't sure, but he can spot a hint of emotion in Kayaba's monotonous voice. PITY? No… he doubts it. If Kayaba truly pities them, he wouldn't have locked them in Aincard.

"**None of these is the reason I am doing this. Not only that, but now for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because... this situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized."**

Kayaba takes a breath then returns to his emotionless voice.

"**... now I have finished the official tutorial for «Sword Art Online». Players—I wish you luck."**

And with that, the hooded man disintegrates in smoke and static. The world around them returns to what it should be.

After a bit of silence, the audience finally gives a proper reaction to Kayaba's tutorial

"It's a joke right...? The hell is this? It's a joke right!?"

"Stop kidding around! Let me out! Let me out of here!"

"No! You can't! I've got to meet someone soon!"

"I don't like this! I'm gonna go home! I want to go home!"

Panic spreads like wild fire as screams of despair fills the air. The fact has finally sinks in, they are no longer players of a game, but prisoners in a world that truly wants to kill them.

In the midst of it all, Faux is surprisingly calm. Maybe the sight of thousands of panic players made him lose any desire to panic himself.

To his right was his sister Czarina, crying while hugging herself. She repeats "This cant be true" again and again like a mantra.

To his left, Gawain is cursing at the nonexistent figure in the sky.

Thanks to his abnormal cool, Faux realizes one thing. The Death Game called SWORD ART ONLINE has started, and there is no time to waste.

In front of him, he spots the black haired player pulling a thuggish looking red head player away from the crowd.

"_Looks like I'm not the only who managed to keep cool"_ Faux then begins to move.

He grabs the still-cursing Gawain, forces up the sobbing Czarina and drags both of them out of the plaza. A few seconds of forcing their way through the crowd, they enter a quiet alley.

Faux faces his comrades.

Czarina sat on the floor, hugging her legs like a scared child. Tears silently rolls down her eyes

"Fuck this shit!" Gawain slams his fist on a nearby wall.

Faux takes a deep breath then begins to talk

"Gawain, we're heading to the next town. Where is it?"

Gawain silently stares questioningly at Faux for a few seconds, then quickly understands what he was getting at. He calms down and begins to talk

"We need to go through the northwest gate. After that we have a bit of ground to cover. Between us and our target location, there are a couple of big fields and a forest."

"Hmm… that does sound like a bit of distance… How about the monsters between point A and B?" Faux replies

"We can muscle our way through, but it's better to avoid them completely and just get-"

"WHY ARE YOU SO CALM?!" Czarina suddenly screams, surprising the two into silence. She rushes to Faux violently grabs his arm. "DON'T YOU GET IT?! THIS ISNT A GAME WHERE YOU CAN JUST WALTZ AROUND LIKE A BUNCH OF WONDERLUST RETARDS! **WE WILL DIE IF WE GET KILLED! **WE-… ah" She suddenly realize that the hand she grabbed was shaking.

"Tch… the cats out of the bag." Faux cant help but feel disappointed. He is proud of his acting skills.

"Ani-sama….. your scared?" Czarina asks

"*sigh* I wanted to be the calm and cool leader type for a bit… way to ruin my fun sis" Faux said jokingly

In his mind, Faux is as calm as he could possibly be. On the other hand, his body was showing the fear that his mind didn't have. He isn't Chuck Norris, he cant roundhouse kick everything that moves with no fear. He is just as scared as everyone else.

Faux affectionately pats Czarina on the head, which causes her to relax

"Sis... do you know what bravery is?"

"…. The ability to face adversities without fear" Czarina answers

"That's what you call someone who is being suicidal. There is no such person who has no fear" Faux replies. " Bravery can only be displayed when you are scared shitless, yet continues on. Right now, your brother is trying his best to be brave. I gotta look cool once in awhile." Faux smiles with all the confidence he could muster

"… you are cool Ani-sama…"Czarina said in a small voice

After a few seconds, she calms down. She then asks Gawain

"Why do we have to go to the other town? Are the monsters outside not enough?"

"Back in the first day of AESIR ONLINE, all of the starting cities were flooded with players. It goes without saying, the easy monsters outside those cities were stripped clean and any respawned monsters were killed immidietly, making it insanely hard to gain exp" Gawain explained. "What we did was to find a place away from the starting cities where the mob was barely beatable. Thanks to that, we didn't have to worry about anyone stealing our prey and we leveled up faster than others"

"Seeing how there is only one starting city in SAO, the players will start hunting the monster outside the city. Atleast when they calm down" Faux adds. "Right now, we have someone with months of experience on our side, we might as well put him into good use"

"I see… Once again, I hate to admit it, but I will be in your care…." Czarina tells Gawain

"Ha ha ha! If your sassiness is back, then you must be alright!" Gawain replies

"Well then…. Lets do this!" Faux said

"YEAH!" the two replied.

With Gawain in the lead, the trio dashed out of the city towards their first destination.

"_Thank god, these two are easy to manipulate"_ Faux thought.

He made sure that their topic stayed away from the fate of the OTHER PLAYERS. If he didn't, Gawain would most probably want to help in any way that he can.

Unfortunately, this is not the time for compassion.

In all MMORPGs, the ones with the greatest experience and the best equipment will always come out on top. If Gawain shared his knowledge, who knows how long before they could level up.

Right now, Faux cares very little to the fate of the other players.

"_Right now, these two are all that matters"_ He thought to himself while fighting off the guilt of abandoning the rest.


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

THE FOOL, THE HERMIT and FORTUNE

-:-

The boy awakens to the dark ceiling, a very clear sign that it isn't the standard time for a normal human being to wake up. Just like always, his head is racked by the indecision of either waking up completely or returning to bed.

Just like always, his indecision leads to his ears being mercilessly pounded by his alarm clock.

Just like always, his alarm reads an annoying 4:30 AM.

"_Seriously…"_ The boy is annoyed at himself for being unable to remove this habit from his system.

He rises… or atleast attempts to, but a weight on his chests keep him down. He removes the blanket and finds a snow white fairy nestling on his chest. Despite her appearance, she feels pleasantly warm and very much alive.

"_Well… this is new"_ The boy thinks to himself.

"_Hmmm…. we do share the same room… she might have gotten to the wrong bed by mistake" _And with that thought, he lets the matter slide.

He gentle moves his sister aside and rises. Once again, he is hindered by his sister, who suddenly grabbed him by the waist.

"_*Sigh*…. If we weren't blood related, this anime-like setting would have been heaven…"_ He mentally complained to his sister. _"I bet the guys at school would rip me apart if they knew I was at the receiving end of this cute side of THE EMPRESS"_

He proceeds the gentle yet annoying process of getting away from his sister. After a few seconds of struggling, he stands and traces the wall to find the light switch. The moment he touched the wall…

"_Huh? Wood? My room is made of concrete…._" The boy looks around to see an unfamiliar room.

The bed, floor, chair and everything else was made of wood. The design made the room look like it was something out of a medieval fantasy anime. He heads near the window to find a familiar yet unnatural sight.

The town outside of his window matched the theme of his bedroom. Despite being dark, he could tell that all of the buildings from the nearby are medieval in architectural design. The grassy field between his current home and the town also did not exist in his hometown of Tokyo.

After seeing the sight, his sleepy mind finally starts getting in to gear

"_Shit….. I forgot…. We are trapped in SAO"_ The boy… no…. Faux finally gets up to speed.

It has been one month since the start of the death game, SWORD ART ONLINE. So far, about 2000 deaths have been confirmed, and the first floor hasn't even been beaten.

The sad fact is…. There are 99 more floors to go

"_Moping here wont solve anything"_ Faux thought.

He brings down the menu and begins equipping his armaments. A grey leather jacket (He always wondered why people like those longcoats), Black shirt and pants (You cant go wrong with basic black) and his trusty weapon, the BREAD KNIFE.

People might be thinking _"BREAD KNIFE? That sounds weak"_. Sorry to disappoint you, not only does it sound weak, it also LOOKS weak.

But just like everything in SAO, looks are very deceiving. Instead of a blunt tip that every day bread knifes have, his BREAD KNIFE has a sharpened end which allows stabbing attacks.

Along with the ANNEAL BLADE (Gawain's current sword), Faux's BREAD KNIFE and Czarina's STAINED GLASS SWORD are weapons from HORUNKA VILLAGE that can be used until the 3rd floor.

"_If anything, I am very proud of THIS blade"_ He thought as he equipped his weapon.

Call it dumb luck, fate, karma or divine assistance, but his BREAD KNIFE has +6 (5S1D) enhancements

For those who didn't know, there are 5 weapon enchantment parameters present in SAO. These are Sharpness, Durability, Quickness, Accuracy and Heaviness. As Gawain explains it, the last 3 affects the weapons' ease of use, while the first 2 means increased damage and slower durability decay.

Faux geared his dagger to deal high burst damage. Add the dagger ability to launch sword skills after sword skills with barely any delay, it has the potential to exceed the DPS of any weapon.

"_Hmm…. Im ready as I'll ever be…"_ Faux finished setting up his equipments.

He silently walks out the door and begins to make his way down stairs. Before leaving the building, he passes the room where Gawain was sleeping.

"_Sleep well bub"_ Faux thought as he bro-fists the door.

Gawain is a nice person and that is a fact. Back in AESIR Online, he was willing to help anyone who was in need, which in turn, made him extremely popular. The only time that he turns down an invite to a boss hunt is when there are conflicts in scheduling. On the flip side, Gawain has never experienced being truly hated before, thus he is currently under a lot of stress.

The first 2000 deaths were unjustly blamed at the beta testers for abandoning the newbie's to their fate. Even if no one knows that Gawain was a beta tester, he feels responsible for their deaths. Every insult aimed at the beta testers cuts him so deeply, that he even looses sleep over it.

With Czarina's inability to wake up early and Gawain's much needed rest, Faux heads out alone to train.

"_They normally wake up around 9 – 10 am. They cant expect me to wait for them to wake up" _Faux thought as he heads out.

They were currently lodging at a windmill just outside of TOLBANA, the city closest to the pillar where the 1st floor boss resides. It only costs 100 gold to rent the spacious 3 floor, 4 bedroom house. A very good bargain if he says so himself.

He walks through the dark fields for thirty minutes until he reached the entrance to the dungeon. He draws out his dagger and thought

"_Time to grind"_

Maybe its called bravery, or maybe its stupidity, or maybe its what many called a GAMERS PRIDE... whatever it is, it drives Faux to risk his life once again.

-:-

"HAHAHAHAHA!" A crazed laugh is heard along with the grunts and roars of the nearby monsters.

Faux runs with all his might while keeping an eye on his radar. 2 large red dots were about 4-5 meters behind him while another dot was about 30 meters away. The enemy 30 meters away took a heavy combo from Faux, but he completely missed the weak spot by accident, thus unable to kill it in one go.

"_Gotta love the SEARCHING skill"_

SEARCHING is normally used to scout ahead for any potential dangers, but it also has an unexpected perk in combat. Thanks to its radar-like ability, Faux didn't need to constantly look back to check on his enemies. By using the terrain and positioning, he can beat enemies that are numerically superior.

"_Just like those Spartans in 300"_

Faux is currently in a dance of death with 3 RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER. If a gamer saw this scene, he would come to the conclusion that Faux accidentally lured the other 2 monsters while fighting one of them.

But that is not the case.

Faux intentionally lured the 3 of them so that he could fight them all at once. In a normal RPG, it is a fine way to test how well the user can use his own character. True enough, if he can pull it off, Faux will be able to level at an astounding pace.

But in the death game called SAO, such risks are suicidal.

To Faux, who plays games for such challenges, the risks are ignorable. Sure enough, if he makes a mistake, it will be fatal one.

"…_. Then I just have to perfect!"_

He keeps running for a few seconds until he reaches a stairs that he has been waiting for. He jumps down the 20 flight stair and turns the moment he lands. As expected the first of the kobolds jumps the stairs with the second one just a few seconds behind it.

"_Oh yeah.. you are so dead"_

Faux executes his favourite combo.

Faux launches LINEAR.

Hits the still-in-mid-air RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER at the head.

Damage: 21%

RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER HP: 79%

Faux rushes forward as RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER lands and launches the two hit dagger skill, X.

Critically hits the RUIND KOBOLD TROOPER in the neck

DAMAGE: 57%

RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER HP: 22%

Faux changes his grip into a reverse grip and throws a boxing like sword skill called HOOK

Critically hits the RUIND KOBOLD TROOPER in the neck

Damage: 83% (OVER KILL)

RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER HP: 0%

The enemy shatters into a thousand pieces and fades with a blue light.

This is the advantage of daggers compared to larger weapons, the ability to launch one sword skill after another with no delay

There are 3 factors to consider that affects the execution of Swords Skills.

The input of the user

The weight of the weapon

The after effects of the Sword skill

The first one is something all of the players should know about. As long as the player gets his initial movement right, the system assist will kick in and execute the sword skill.

The last one is something that no one can control. Things such as cool down time or giving the user a bit of inertia to a certain direction is system imposed, thus cannot be overwritten no matter what.

The second one is where all the daggers magic happens. Size and weight of a weapon is directly proportional to the amount of effort to set up for the next attack.

Let's take the Sword skill HORIZONTAL for example. To execute HORIZONTAL, the user must raise the sword to the middle of his body before the system recognizes it. It takes more effort to raise a two handed sword than a one handed sword, thus the one handed sword can execute it faster. After that, in order to move to the next Sword Skill, the player must once again reposition himself, which in turn, creates a delay.

That delay simply does not exist in daggers. With little to no effort in setting up for a sword skill, dagger users has the potential to become sword skill machine guns. Faux's 4 hit 3 sword skill combo looked like a single 4 hit combo if it wasn't for the light effects.

LINEAR is a simple rapier like sword thrust, but for some reason, he cant seem to aim it properly. He keeps missing the weak spot of the enemy thanks to that. He mostly uses this when there is still a bit of range between him and his enemy.

X is a two hit dagger only skill that can only be executed at close range. His arm simple moves like someone bitch slapping someone from right to left, and back again. Thanks to the close proximity, he can easily aim for the enemy's weak spot.

And for his coup de grace, the reverse grip dagger skill HOOK. Though very strong, it has an incredibly short range because his arm is kept bent. A side effect of HOOK is that it gives the user a bit of inertia, forcing him to stagger to the left, thus unbalancing him. Most dagger users found this annoying but Faux saw the hidden potential in it. If the player rides the momentum instead of fighting it, HOOK can be used as an escape mechanism.

With a lot of practice, he can launch and finish the combo in 2 seconds flat.

The second RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER lands to his right, but thanks to HOOK followed by a dodge roll, there is a bit of distance between them, giving him a bit of breathing room. In his radar, he spots a blue dot about 18 meters to his left, an indication that the 3rd enemy is in a higher elevation.

He looks up and spots the 3rd RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER with about 7% HP in mid air

"_Heh… Perfect"_

In one fluid motion, he sheaths his dagger, takes out a throwing knife and without bothering to set up a sword skill, hurls it at the enemy 18 meters away. It lands on the enemy's neck, effectively killing it in one shot.

Out of all the things Faux can do, he is most proud of his blade throwing skills. Blade throwing has a maximum range of 10 meter, any more than that will not be assisted by the system. With this, sure hit long range skills are non existent in SAO. In order to hit something outside the 10 meter range limit, the user needs to aim it manually, which subjects the projectile to the rules of physics such as gravity, wind speed and deceleration rate. Add the lack of crosshair, Faux's ability is considered to be astounding.

The drawback is its lack of damage. If Faux doesn't hit the weak spot perfectly, it wouldn't even do 1% damage. On the flip side, if a near death enemy is surrounded by enemies with full life, the options were either run away or plow through them. To Faux, neither are attractive options.

The enemy in front of him quickly closes the gap and starts a familiar 3 hit sword skill, catching Faux flatfooted. He draws his dagger and sloppily parries the first, resulting in a lightly damaged shoulder and a -8% in HP. He ducks to dodge the second swing and before enemy could prepare for the third swing…

"YOU BITCH!"

-LINEAR-

-X-

-HOOK-

Faux explodes, launching a savage counter attack that turned the enemy into blue confetti.

When the blue light effect disappears, Faux finally calms down.

"_*sigh*…. And I thought I could go with no damage this time"_ Faux thought._ "Well… its time to head back…. *sigh*"_

Faux has been trying to get through the dungeon and return with zero damage received. It goes without saying that he has constantly failed this pursuit, much to his frustration.

"_Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow."_

He turns and retraces his steps towards the entrance.

For one month, it's been a habit of his to train in the nearest available dungeon before his comrades wake up. As a very early riser, the 5-6 hours wait for his friends to wake up is pure agony, thus he might as well spend his time constructively. Thanks to his habit, he not only has the experience of a soloist, but also has the level of one. He isn't sure but he might be 1 or 2 levels higher than Czarina and Gawain, and neither of them knows about it.

As he headed back, he met a few more enemies which he dispatched one at a time. He didn't bother doing his usual 3 on 1 fight after losing HP, simply because he lost the drive.

-:-

After back tracking for a couple of minutes, Faux spots a peculiar sight. He sticks close to the wall and observes from the corner.

A shieldless black haired swordsman is fighting off 2 RUINKOBOLD TROOPER with a familiar looking one hand sword, the ANNEAL BLADE. He skilfully blocks and parries the attacks, but for some reason, he does not go for the counter attack. He stubbornly stands his ground and keeps on the defence

This baffles Faux. He could tell that the black haired swordsman is much better than he is, thus dispatching 2 at the same time should be a cake walk.

After a bit of squinting, he finally realizes why the swordsman refuses to move. Leaning on the wall behind the swordsman was a hooded figure. From what he could see, the hooded figure wasn't even conscious.

Alarm bells rang on his head and his body moved as expected of him. He rushes out of the corner where he was hiding, drew his dagger and set it to reverse grip. He lunges low until he felt the sword skill kick in, and pounces at the closest enemy with the basic dagger skill STAB.

The unexpected attack from behind causes the RUIN KOBOLD TROOPER to stagger forward. It tries to face its new attacker, but Faux gives it no opportunity to do so as he pummels its back with sword skills until its hp drops to zero.

Though surprised by the turn of events, the black haired swordsman quickly recovers and makes short work of his current enemy. He parries an incoming blow then chops the KOBOLD in half with one swing.

"…. Damn… You're good." Faux watch in awe.

"Not really. Its all in the flick of the wrist" The swordman replies calmly yet jokingly

"Ha ha ha, I heard better lies from my retarded uncle"

"I must be a horrible liar then"

"No… my uncle used to be in politics. He cant even say GOOD MORNING without lying twice."

"HAHAHAHA"

"HAHAHAHA"

The two laughed like they have been friends for a very long time. Despite the chumy atmosphere, Faux has already pieced together the identity of the black haired swords man.

"… You're are BETA TESTER aren't you" Faux said which caused the black haired swordsman to stiffen up, his face full of fear.

"H-how?" The swordsman asks with a certain level of anxiety in his voice

"It's actually very easy. Your moves, from the well placed parries to the flawless counter attack, were perfect…. Too perfect to be precise."

The swordsman's face further stricken in fear, which is not exactly what Faux wanted

"Oi oi don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those beta tester haters" Faux said.

The swordsman looks at him in surprise

"Didn't expect that huh?"

The swordsman shakes his head left to right

"Well then, let me ask you this. How did I figure out that your moves were TOO PERFECT?"

The swordsman thinks for a bit then comes to a conclusion.

"You compared me to someone…"

"Well… I am impressed, you ARE good. Anyways, back to the topic. A good friend of mine has been keeping our party alive for the past month. Just like a mentor, he has been guiding us ever since day one, teaching us the SAO basics and all that jazz. And to confirm your suspicion, yes, he is a beta tester. I've always thought that he was the best when it came to the one hand sword. But after seeing you fight, he looked like crap, thus allowed me to piece together that you must be a beta tester"

The swordsman relaxes a bit, though Faux could tell that he still had his guard up.

"He acts like your typical naïve _I WANT EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY _protagonist, but due to the social stigma of the beta testers, he really couldn't help out everyone freely. With that in mind, he joined Argo in making the guide book. And yes, I also know that Argo the Rat is a beta tester."

The swordsman relaxes at the sound of Argo's name.

"As you can see, your secret is safe with me. Oh.. that rhymed." Faux said

"I see. That's good." Said the swordsman as he relaxes completely

"Anyways, what happened to that guy?" Faux points to the hooded figure by the wall

"Oh her…. From what she told me, she has been training in this dungeon for 4 days straight now. She hasn't returned... since she began" The swordsman sighs

"4 days?! That's crazy! Where the hell does she sleep?"

"Apparently in the safe zone"

"No way…" Faux said. "The place is crawling with noisy monsters and the floor is freezing cold. There is no way she can get any decent sleep here!"

"You're right. That's why she's unconscious, and that's why I've been trying to get her back to town"

"You know… you could have just dragged her in the safe zone and waited until she woke up"

The swordsman looks at Faux in surprise. His face states that the thought never even crossed his mind

"W-well… you know… The thought of a girl sleeping on the cold floor is just… you know…" The swordsman laughs at his pathetic excuse of an excuse.

"Ha ha ha! Well whatever." Faux shrugs. "How about this, seeing how I'm already heading back, how about I'll help you for a small fee"

"err…. I don't have much money" The swordman replies while turning his pockets inside out

"Don't worry about it! Give me some pointers from here till the exit and you can consider my services as _paid in full_."

"I see. Very well umm… I'm Kirito" The swordsman said as he reached out his hand

"I'm Faux. Till we get out of here, I'll be under your care Kirito-sensei"

"Same here" Kirito said as he dryly laughs at his new title

After a handshake between men, they set out for the exit.

-:-

The 2 players made good time despite carrying a dead weight that considerably slowed their progress. They navigate the long, confusing maze with little to no effort, but seeing how Faux comes here twice a day, it shouldn't be surprising (1st run: before party wakes up. 2nd run: with party till night).

Faux took the vanguard position and killed any monster that got in their way. On the other hand, Kirito walked behind him while carrying the hooded girl on his back.

"Must be nice having those decently sized boobies rub your back" Faux teasingly said to Kirito while he scouts ahead.

"SHUT UP!"

"HAHAHAHA"

The two continued on with Faux defending Kirito from attackers. If worse comes to worse, Kirito will put down the hooded girl and assume an aggressive defence. Fortunately for them, Faux was strong and experienced enough to avoid the worst case scenario. Even against a two vs one scenario, Faux proves that he is more than capable of defeating them.

After about an hour of back tracking and a few encounters with the local monsters, the two finally exits the tower. In abidance with their deal, Kirito gave Faux quiet a lot of advice, mostly concerning quests on the higher levels.

"I'm impressed though… I never seen anyone move like that…" Kirito said as he walks beside Faux

"Not used to seeing high level dagger users?"

"Yeah… even during back then (he means the BETA TEST PERIOD, but does not say it out loud), not a lot of people use daggers"

"I kinda understand. Aside from its obvious damage disadvantage, daggers force the user to go close and personal with the enemy. With SAO emphasizing on facial detail, the players can see the enemy's hate and rage in its full HD glory." Faux explains. "Most people would freak out from that"

"True…" Kirito replies. "But why aren't you freaked out?"

"Hmm… who knows…. Do you know why you aren't freaked out while fighting monsters?"

Kirito thinks for a bit

"Maybe because I'm used to fantasy games…."

"That's a good reason… I guess im like that too"

"…. What a half assed reason"

"Then stop giving such good reasons for me to copy"

The two laughed in unison as they follow the familiar dirt road within the forest just outside the dungeon. After walking 100 meters or so, Kirito stops at a clearing and puts down the hooded girl on the grass. Kirito then faces Faux and said

"This should be far enough"

"Eh? You're not gonna bring her to town?" Faux asks

"Nah… She might get mad if we take her too far away from the dungeon. She didn't spend all those hours training just to have someone force her away from the dungeon, right?"

"Good point. **HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED **" Faux said with the later part of the sentence in English.

"Er… sorry, I didn't get that last part"

"It means that nothing is more annoying that a pissed off woman. Of course, it wasn't a word per word translation but that's the main idea" Faux said. He then positions is hand for a handshake. "Even though we just known each other for a little while, you have taught me a lot of things. Thank you Kirito-sensei"

"Yeah. Thanks for helping out. If you ever need help, you know who to call"

They shook hands, and with one final wave, Faux leaves Kirito and the hooded girl.

-:-

Tolbana City bustles with activity as its citizens awaken to a new day. As he passed through the entrance, he spots merchants setting up shop and players heading to the dungeon for their early grind. There are also a few people, like him, who are returning from the dungeon after their early morning grind.

He checks the time and notices that he has about 20 minutes to spare before his comrades wakes up.

"_Hmm… I am a bit hungry…"_ Faux then takes a short cut through the alleys with the intention of getting to the merchant that sells black loaf breads. It tastes like crap, but he has some cream that he got from a previous quest, which made the bread bearable.

He takes a familiar short cut through some tight alleyways to get to his destination. He walks for a few minutes until he spots a peculiar sight, about 6 girls gathered around a small booth owned by a chuby yet kind looking bespectacled woman.

'Why is it such a peculiar sight?' you ask?

The answer is simple. Female players are as rare a gold in the real world. Having 6 (in one place 7 if you add the stall owner) is like hitting a multi million jackpot. He approaches the booth to see what was so interesting.

"_Ah…. So that's it…"_ Faux thought as he spots a deck of cards laid out on the table.

The cards had weird symbols on them, a clear indication that they weren't playing cards. They were larger than playing cards, and from what he can see, there are the cards with the suite THE MOON, THE PRIESTESS and THE LOVERS on the table.

"Ho… tarot cards huh?" Faux said

7 pairs of eyes looks at him, 6 of them contained a bit of hostility.

"_Oh shit… when did I get here?"_ He thought as he suddenly realized that he was already standing within the crowd of girls. _"Curiosity killed the cat huh…"_

On the other hand, the chubby woman welcomed him with no hostility

"Hello there, friend! What do you think of divination?" She said to Faux

"I think it's a load of crap" Faux said which earned him 6 death glares. "Still interesting though" he quickly adds

"Ho ho. You're a non-believer yet still willing to accept the absurd"

"There are some things that science cant explain, or atleast that's what I think"

The fat fortune teller thought for a second.

"You're pretty open minded, aren't you?" She asks Faux

"There are always more than one side to a story. I always thought that everything in existence cannot be viewed from one perspective alone" Faux replies

"Then you wouldn't mind giving divination a try?" The chubby woman said, as if challenging Faux

Faux checks on the time

"Sure, I've got some time to kill"

The girls squealed as they make room for him.

"So, what would you like me to divine?" The fortune teller asks as she gathers up the cards on the table

"Hmm…. Lets make it challenging… I want you to divine my party"

"Where are they?" The fortune teller looks around for other new arrivies

"They aren't here. I did say want this to be challenging" Faux said sadistically

"Ho… I see. Which aspect should I divine?" The fortune teller asks, clearly pumped up

"Fu fu fu, lets make it general." Faux said

"Ho ho ho! Very well. Then I'll ask one final question before I begin, how many and what is the gender of your partymates?"

"That's two questions you know? Well, whatever." Faux shrugs. "Our party has only 3 members, including me. One of them is a girl while another is a guy. That's enough right?"

"Yup, more than enough. Well then, I'm going to explain the things I can do. Because the other two aren't here, I can only divine who they and their general state of mind, which limits me to only 2 cards. Do you understand?"

"Hahaha, not the all mighty fortune teller I see. Sure, I'll go along with it"

"Very good. Next up is about your divination. Since you're here, I will divine the card that represents you, and a bit of your future. For that, I will need 3 cards, agreed?"

"Sure sure, lets get on with it!" Faux said with excitement, which made the girls giggle.

Faux does not believe that it is possible to view the future using such a retarded method, but he does enjoy watching the crap that a fortune teller spots during the divination.

"Oh, before I start, I would like to ask if you prefer the usual peaceful divination or the cryptic version?"

Faux thinks for a bit

"Cryptic, definitely" Faux replies after sensing that this one might do something interesting

"I see, very well. Oh, one last thing, since you want the cryptic version, do you mind if I do some introduction? You know, just to set the mood"

"JUST DO IT DAMN IT!" Faux said in impatiens, causing everyone around him to laugh

After a few seconds of laughter, the chubby woman makes a serious face and begins her intro.

"The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate…." She says as she arranges the deck

"Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope." She puts the lightly colored cards away and replaces it with a set of black cards with tribal looking design.

" Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed."

The crowd goes silent for a few seconds, until Faux breaks the ice

"Crypticness: A+ Showmanship: A+ Originality: E" Faux said in as a matter of fact way

"HEY! Why did I get an E in originality?!" The chubby complains while slamming she fist on the table

"Though the intro was awesome, it came from a game that was released way back in 2006. It was called PERSONA 3" Faux said with the _EAT THAT BITCH_ face.

"Damn… I didn't think someone else would be playing such vintage games"

"You'd be surprised. A bit of us gamers believes that the old school games still outclasses the newer games. Anyways get on with the divination." Faux said arrogantly

"*sigh* Well whatever. Let's begin with the other guy in your party, coz divining guys is boring" he said as she pushes the card towards Faux. "Shuffle it in any fashion you want"

"Why?" Faux asks.

"Its your friends, your life, your fate. I just read what information you provide"

"Ho… not bad." Faux shuffles the deck then hands it back

The fortune teller takes the card at the very top, she places it down for everyone to see

"THE HERIOPHANT. This man must be some sort of mentor or teacher in your party. Correct?"

Faux's face is filled with shock as he nods. The girls around him cheers at the fortune teller's success.

The fortune teller takes another card from the top and places it on the table

"THE MOON is the representation of his current mental state. The card represents uncertainty, doubt or fear. He must be agonizing about some issue that causes him to lose sleep."

Faux's jaw hits the floor

"Y-you just might be the real deal" Faux said

"Hahaha so I was right. Well then, lets move to the female in your party. Take all of the cards and shuffle it again" The fortune teller ordered which Faux followed

Once again, she took the first card on the top and placed in on the table

"THE EMPRESS represents beauty and sensuality. Her beauty might have made her a bit cocky. Is this true?" He said as he looked at the open mouthed Faux. "I guess I was right… you must introduce me to her. I would like to know how she stays beautiful"

"Dream on!" Faux replies instantly. "No way I'm introducing my sister to someone suspicious"

"Tch… fine. The next card is…. Oh my… THE DEVIL" she said as he put the card on the table."If you put THE EMPRESS into consideration, this might signify that she has a bit of obsession, or maybe its lust, for something, and she will use whatever means, even her beauty, to attain it"

The girls squealed noisily

"_Well… she does have a bit of an obsession with me…. I doubt it though….. I think?"_ Faux pushes it out of his mind for now

"Well… whatever. Move to the next one" Faux said as he took the cards and shuffles it again.

"Fine… Lastly, we divine you. First card is… THE FOOL" She said, which caused the girls to laugh."Now now ladies. Despite its name, THE FOOL signifies a man with great potential. Just like the number zero, he is empty, yet because of that, he can be anything. In a way, he is like a protagonist in a story"

"Ooohhh" "He is kinda cute.." was said among many other things.

"Just keep going man" Faux urged. He wasn't feeling very comfortable with 6 pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Fu fu fu. Not used to popularity I see. Very well, lets move on to the cards for your future. Oh my… THE TOWER. This one usually signifies very sudden, very great and very horrible change…. Tough times await you my friend." She looks at Faux with a bit of pity in his eyes.

"As for the final card, ah-" the fortune tellers attempts to take a card but accidentally takes 2, which falls off her finger tips.

"Oh…. I guess your divination is ruined?" Faux asks, seeing how the fortune teller required only 3 cards.

"No, its fine. In tarot cards, everything happens for a reason, and this is no exemption. Lets see… you have some very nasty cards here. JUSTICE which represents the coldness and cruelty required to do what is right. DEATH represents an ending of a current trend or cycle, but I doubt that's what it means here. If you put JUSTICE in with DEATH, then it reads _Someone who delivers justice even if he has to force someone's cycle to end_. In short, you will become something close to a VIGILANTE"

The crowd is silent after the fortune teller ends her speech.

"….. If you're trying to scare me, you're doing a good job…." Faux said in a grim tone

"… I really hope that's the only thing I'm doing right now…" The fortune teller replies in kind

-:-

Faux sits on a restaurant table with his hands on his forehead. Even his Flay Lin Pie (its some random in-game food which tastes similarly to his favourite dessert, Egg Pie), couldn't lift his spirits. 10 minutes has passed since he met the fortune teller, but her words still weighed heavily on his mind.

"Faux Ani-sama, whats wrong?" Czarina asks with the face of concern that she would only show to her family members.

"_THE EMPRESS…. THE DEVIL…. Beauty… Lust… Obsession…"_ Faux thought

"She's right man… you're not acting like yourself." Gawain follows

"_THE HERIOPHANT… THE MOON… Teacher… Uncertainty… Fear…"_ Faux thought. _"Why the hell is that fat ass so accurate?!"_

Faux sighs and replies

"It's nothing… I just met a very interesting person…*sigh*" Faux said

"I-if you say so… Ani-sama" Czarina then goes back to her Lee Kyon Ru Spaghetti (just a normal spaghetti with a fancy name attached to it), still very worried about Faux.

"Hey did you know about the meeting?" Gawain says in order to change the mood.

"Meeting?" Faux asks. He knows what Gawain is trying to do, and he truly appreciates his concern.

"Yeah… this afternoon by the amphitheatre in the middle of town, there is the _First Floor Boss Strategy Meeting_." Gawain said, which instantly catches Faux's interest. Even Czarina stops her for in mid air.

"They found the first boss?" Faux leans forward

"Yeah…. The bosses in SAO are tough to beat, and with the death game and all, there is a chance that I might die… but I'm joining the boss raid." Gawain said with conviction. "What about you guys?"

Faux smiles and replies….

"Bitch please! You'd be a nervous wreck if I'm not there. Besides, we've been through a lot man, no way I'm letting you get all the fun"

The two performs the brofist, a sacred sign that only men could ever understand.

Gawain the turns to Czarina

"How about you? Will you be joining us Czarina?"

Czarina takes a sip of her juice then speaks

"Where Faux goes, I go. Someone has to keep you retards in check"

"How mean" The two said in unison

"I never insult anyone. I just state the obvious facts"

The three laughs as the mood returns to the normal carefree atmosphere. Faux suddenly feels a heavy hand over his shoulders.

"So it really is you! I'm surprised how quick I found you"

He turns to see a familiar chubby bespectacled woman. She is in her early 20's sporting a short ponytail, thick rimmed glasses and a motherly face. Faux stands about an inch taller than her even if she is older. Despite her chubbiness, she doesn't look ugly at all.

"Oh, you're the one from earlier" Faux says as he stands

"Yes. Im Tamil, nice to meet you" The girl reached out her hand

"Im Faux, nice to meet you too" He said as he shakes her hand. "Anyways, why are you looking for me?"

"I would like to apologize to what I have said earlier. It seemed to have caused you a bit of discomfort" Tamil replies

"Don't worry about it. I was asking for it, so I shouldn't be angry when I got it" Faux waves it off.

Tamil stares at him for a bit

"…. I'm impressed…. Such a mature answer for your age…"

"That's just how it is, I guess" Faux said with a shrug

*BAM!*

Czarina suddenly slams her cup on the table, startling everyone

"ANI-… FAUX! Who is this pig standing in two legs?" Czarina said in a very arrogant manner

"What an insolent child!" Tamil replies, readjusting her glasses. "Just because you're pretty doesn't mean that you can just-…. Oh…"

Tamil suddenly realizes something and looks at Faux for confirmation. Faux nods in reply

"I see…. Then this one is…" Tamil looks to Gawain

"Let me introduce them to you. The handsome guy is Gawain, our defacto leader, and the white girl is Czarina, my sister" Faux said

"HMP!" Czarina turns away

"Nice to meet you" Gawain said and shakes her hand. "Anyways, what the hell are you talking about?"

Tamil begins to explain but Faux quickly cuts her off with his hand.

"Doesn't your job have client confidentiality?"

Tamil looks at him for a second, then nods.

"Faux, I am an alchemist, or atleast I'm still starting. As for my apology for earlier, I'll make 12 potions for you for free." Tamil said. She quickly adds Faux into her friends list, then she bows and leaves.

"Faux… what the hell was that?" Gawain asks

"You don't hear me prying into all of your failed pick up attempts, do you?"

"Ouch… right in the nuts man…"

"Hahaha, well I'll tell you anyway. We had an argument about which vintage games were better …. And she sent me home crying…. Not exactly something I want to share…." Faux lied.

Luckily, the two simply laughed and called him names. They believed him and inquired no further.

"_They are better off not knowing"_

Suddenly, he receives a private message from Tamil

"- Hope I was wrong-"

Faux then replies

"- You and me both-"

-:-

The day went by quickly and without incident.

They went to the dungeon for some light grinding before heading back to the town to attend the meeting. The meeting was led by a player named DIABEL, who belonged to the party that found the boss room. Faux spotted a few familiar faces such as ARGOS the Rat, his new friend KIRITO and the hooded girl.

Faux wanted to call Kirito out but he was too focused on the meeting that he never got a chance.

There was a slight incident with a man named KIBAOU and his hatred for the beta testers. He demanded that beta testers to surrender all the items they have horded as a form of apology to the 2000 who died in the first month. Gawain took this pretty hard, with his entire body shaking the entire time. Faux feared that Gawain would have probably done what Kibaou demanded, if it wasn't for the timely interruption of a large man named AGIL.

Agil pointed out that the beta testers were the ones that provided free guidebooks for everyone, yet despite that, 2000 players still died. It only means that those people who died, especially those MMORPG veterans, were careless. He also pointed out that infighting amongst the players would only doom everyone.

Diabel was able to steer the discussion away from the beta testers and back to the task at hand. When the time to form parties came, the trio were split up into different groups.

Gawain, the second most popular in their group, became part of team C (3rd of 3 tanking group) along with Diabel.

Czarina, the most popular in their group, was fought over by nearly all of the parties because she didn't bother hiding her beauty. After wasting few minutes in negotiations, she ended the quarrel by deciding to join team B (2nd Tanking group) due to her heavy armor, under Agil.

Faux, with the popularity of a nameless movie extra that dies first, joined the polearm team F who was short one member. He didn't know any of them, thus he became an outcast within the group, though he doesn't really mind. Earlier, Czarina demanded she joined the same group as Faux, but he convinced her that she needed to stick with her role if they wanted to come out of the boss fight alive.

Faux was able to say a quick hi to Kirito who formed team G with only 2 members, the other one being the hooded girl. Faux would want nothing more than join their group, but what's done is done.

After the meeting, the trio went for a light grind up the tower, then came back before 9 pm for an early rest.

After a warm, delicious and fairly expensive dinner, the trio went to bed early. As usual, Gawain tried to convince Czarina to share a room with him, and as usual, Czarina firmly and cruelly declines.

Faux enters the room, moves near the window and watches the beautiful night view. He has a lot of things in his mind, and sorting it is a tiresome ordeal. Suddenly, a small frame forcefully squeezes itself underneath his left arm. He looks down and spots Czarina hugging him by the ribs.

"You've been very clingy for the past month… you never do that IRL" Faux said

Czarina stays silent for a second, then answers.

"We weren't in a death game back IRL, but now…." Czarina replies quietly. "…. I'm sorry ani-sama…. I'm just scared. The question _What if Ani-sama_ _dies?_ kept bugging me since the meeting. The thought of it….. scares me…" She wrapped her arms around his ribs tighter

Faux pats her on the head

"*sigh*…. I hate it when I cant say anything to comfort you…. Sorry"

"Then…. Let me sleep like this until morning…. That's good enough" Czarina replies

Faux agrees but on the back of his head, the tarot card of THE DEVIL haunts him til he falls asleep.

-:-

The Next Day- 12:30 noon

The raid group of 44 people stood in front of the double doors leading to the boss chamber. As usual, Diabel was able to keep the group optimistic, without a shred of anxiety in the air.

The trio gathers for one last time before they enter the chamber.

"Go die in a ditch retard" Faux says to Gawain

"May a spear get shoved up your ass, forever alone guy" Gawain replies jokingly

Faux and Gawain performs their sacred bro fist, then headed to their respective groups. Czarina meets him before he could reach his group, then suddenly leans her forehead on his chest.

"Be careful, Ani-sama…. I dont think I'll be able to live without you" Czarina says in a small voice

"Don't be like that. Remember sis, I'm so much better than you at this types of thing" Faux replies jokingly. He was expecting a sharp retort from Czarina but none came.

"Yes…" Czarina replies softly, surprising Faux in the process.

With one last hug, Czarina returns to her group, and Faux does the same.

In his group, he was met with eyes of hatred and disgust. Though he has an idea why they are doing it, he asks innocently.

"Hey… whats with the death stares?" Faux asks.

The leader of the group named CoorDude (CoolDude… Japanesse and their ENGRISH ^.^ ) stands and replies

"Isnt it obvious?! Your flirting with such Czarina-sama in public! How in gods name aren't we pissed?!" CoorDude says with a bit of hatred in his voice. The other people in the group voices their displeasure in unison.

"_Wait... Czarina-sama? Already?! ... Oh god…. What a bunch of closet pervs" _Faux thought

"FYI, Czarina is my biological sister." Faux says, much to the surprise of the group.

"B-but you don't look like each other" another party member speaks up

"I'm inherited most of my looks from our father, while Czarina took more from our mother. She is also a natural born Albino, so its no surprise that we don't look alike"

The group stays silent for a sec… then they suddenly rush to him, begging for them to be introduced to his sister.

"Bitch Please! As an older brother, it is my sworn duty to protect my sister from…" Takes a look at his partymates "…. suspicious people"

They continued to beg but all of their words were ignored.

Diabel stands in front of the group, signalling it was finally time to begin. Tension fills the air as Diabel places his hand on the door.

"- Lets go" He said as he pushes the door open.

The room they entered was a massive 20 meter wide and 100 meters in length, as if it was to house something massive. Out of nowhere, a large figure suddenly lands in the middle of it, causing the ground to shake. On top of it appeared its name, ILLFANG THE KOBOLD LORD, holding a bone axe on one hand and a leather buckler in another, while strapped to its back was the massive Tawlar which was to be used when the HP drops to a certain level on the 4th bar. Near it, 3 RUIN KOBOLD SENTINEL appears within a blue flame.

Faux cant help but admire how precise Argo's and Gawain's info is.

Diabel raises his sword and swings it down.

2:40 pm of December 4, the 1st floor boss battle begins.

-:-

The boss battle was going surprisingly well.

The 1st HP bar was taken away by team C with Diabel on its lead. The 2nd bar followed suite after group D switched with group C. After 2nd bar, group D took a bit of beating, and with Diabel's command, group F moved into the fray and let lose a barrage of high damaging sword skills. Faux fought smart and attacked ILLFANG from behind with his most relentless combo, while his teammates had the threat. He retreated the moment he overtakes his team in DPS to avoid being targeted by ILLFANG.

The boss group didn't have to worry about the RUIN KOBOLD SENTINELS thanks to the efforts of group E and G. In Faux's opinion, he was more thankful of Kirito's and the hooded girl's relentless pace in eliminating the mobs. They easily put Kibaou's 7 man group to shame.

After a few minutes of combat, ILLFANG finally throws his axe and buckler to the ground. At this point, Diabel commanded group C and F to surround him. The kobold reaches to his back and draws the TAL-…

"_Wait… somethings off"_ Faux thought as he spots ILLFANG's weapon. _"The word TAWLAR sounds like a word with middle east origins, yet ILLFANG's sword looks very japanesse…"_

"Thi... this won't do, fall back! Retreat quickly――――!" A voice said from behind

The moment Faux realizes that it was Kirito's voice, he jumps back with all of his might. A millisecond later, a massive blade misses his stomach by an inch. The others near the kobold weren't so lucky and were blasted back, with 20% hp missing from their hp bars. Luckily for them, they wore heavy armors befitting a tanker, if Faux got hit by that, his hp would have probably dropped 90%.

Despite the urgency of the situation, no one moved to help group C and F. They probably were under the impression that this was going to be a cake walk. Add the fact that their leader, Diabel, was blasted to his butt with one hit, no one can really blame them for being shocked.

Just to make things worse, everyone that got hit by the whirlwind slash were stunned. With no distractions to stop it, ILLFANG was able to recover from the skill cool down and began preparing to launch another sword skill to the person with the highest threat, Diabel.

Group B, with Agil in the lead, moved to provide support… but it was too late.

ILLFANG launches a sword swing, blasting Diabel into the air. But the carnage does not end there. In blinding speed, Diabel was hit but a vertical slash, then a downward slash, and finally ends with a thrust. The knight is blown 20 feet away, landing somewhere outside Faux's vision, but that was not his concern. Faux moves quickly to another fallen knight while the threat is still not focused on them. He found Gawain curled up like a ball with his hands on his head.

"Gawain! Get up now!" Faux says as he tries to drag Gawain off the floor, but the knight refuses to move an inch.

"Im so sorry, Diabel! Its not the same as the beta period! Im so sorry!" Gawain apologized to someone that wasn't there anymore.

"_USELESS PIECE OF SHlT!"_ Ofcourse, that only remained in Faux's head. He understands the guilt Gawain is experiencing from giving the wrong information. He also knew that Gawain has always been bad under pressure. But now is not the time to cave in like a pansy.

Faux quickly scans for anyone who still has their head in the game. Group B under Agil rushed to ILLFANG to buy the others time to escape. Thankfully, Czarina was also able to keep her wits about. Most of the others were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. And finally, he spots the man he was looking for, Kirito and the hooded girl. After making sure that Gawain was no longer a threat to ILLFANG, Faux dashes to join them.

"Kirito, you guys going for it?" Faux asks

"Yeah, we will. But theres a bit of a problem" Kirito points to the back of the room, near the throne where ILLFANG sat. There were three pillars of light, and within them, 3 RUIN KOBOLD SENTINELS dash out.

The guide book said that there were only a total of 12 sentinels that are to be summoned during the boss battle, but with the new arrivals taken into account, there are now 15 sentinels that are summoned. Kibaous group E were still currently engaged with the 2 remaining sentinels, thus unable to keep up with the respawn rate.

Faux sighs, accepting his fate that he wont be part of the group that kills the boss.

"Leave the small fries to me" Faux said to Kirito

"Are you crazy!" The hooded girl suddenly says, much to his surprise." 3 vs 1? Theres no way you'll surivive!"

"Let me do it" Faux tells Kirito in a serious manner. "You've seen what I can do. Let me do it"

Kirito stares at him for a second then says…

"Don't die"

"You should worry if I could kill those sentinels faster than you can kill ILLFANG" Faux replies as he runs to intercept the 3 sentinels.

To the hooded girl, Kirito just sent Faux to a suicide mission.

To Faux, he feels right at home

-:-

3 RUIN KOBOLD SENTINELS, which he labelled as enemy A, B and C, approaches him in a triangle formation. The moment they clashed, Faux unleashes his combo at the nearest kobold, enemy A.

LINEAR (crit!) – X (crit!) – HOOK

"_SHIT!"_ Faux exclaims.

He may have landed the first 2 perfectly in weak spot, but HOOK missed by an inch. In this situation, that inch was as good as a mile. Though their HP is a bit higher than their trooper counterpart, if all hits landed perfectly, he can kill the sentinels in one go.

Enemy A HP: 2%

He dodgerolls to the left thanks to the effect of HOOK.

Enemy B raises its polearm and swings down on Faux.

Faux dodges by using his hands to vault himself from the floor.

He runs away for a few seconds with the 3 sentinels behind him, with the intention of getting some distance between them. Enemy B is 10 meters away from him, A is 18 and C is 23 Faux sheaths his dagger and in one fluid motion, turns and hurls a throwing dagger at enemy A, hitting it in its weak spot and killing it.

He draws his dagger and rushes towards enemy B.

Enemy B raises its weapon to execute a familiar 3 hit sword skill.

Faux lunges forward to dodge the first horizontal strike, and before the second strike could commence, Faux launches his combo. With barely a meter between the two, and Faux having a clear view of the weakspot, the combo yields enormous damage, killing enemy B in one go.

"_One more FOR THE WI- oh shit"_

Faux was just starting his dodgeroll when he realizes that enemy C has already positioned its weapon and swings at him

"_This is gonna hurt"_

Enemy C performs a baseball like swing, hitting Faux in the head and blowing him 5 feet to the right.

Faux HP: 31%

Thankfully, the attack was not a sword skill, thus even if it did land in a vital spot, Faux did not receive a fatal blow. If it was a sword skill, Faux would have been dead for sure. Unfortunately, the blow left him disorientated for a few seconds, not knowing where is where.

By the time he got his bearings back in order, Enemy was already on top of him with its weapon in a direct line with his head.

"_Damn…. What a lousy way to go…."_

Faux accepts his fate, but if he had his way, he would be up against the boss, dying in a blaze of glory.

…..

Like a miracle from the heavens, a white trail of light goes right past his head and smashes into enemy C's chest.

"HA!" A female voice roars as the two hand sword blows enemy C 10 meters back

"Ani-sama! Thank god I made it in time!" Czarina hugs him, unable to hold her tears. "I thought I was going to lose you!"

Faux hugs her back in relief

"Sis… For a second there, I could have sworn you were an angel. Thank you, you're a godsend." Faux replies. He gently pushes Czarina away and readies his dagger once more. "But we're not out of the woods yet."

Enemy C HP: 28%

Faux cant help but be impressed by the power of the two hand weapons. Despite not hitting the weak spot, Czarina was able to take a large chunk of life with one HORIZONTAL. To replicate Czarina's damage, Faux needs to launch his combo without hitting its weakspot.

Enemy C stands at the ready and begins its wild charge back at them.

"Sis! I'll be the forward, switch after I strike!" Faux commands as he rushes towards the enemy

"Understood Ani-sama!" Czarina replies in a peppy voice, not fit for the situation.

Enemy C raises its weapon to perform a 3 hit sword art. Faux meets the first strike with HOOK, causing both to get knocked unbalance.

"SWITCH!" Faux shouts

Czarina rushes past him and performs a thrusting two hand sword skill, IRON HORN.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Czarina roars with full rage. Her sword is driven into the enemy and blows it into the blue oblivion.

Faux kneels down on the floor at the sight of the enemy's defeat. A second later, a large roar explodes from the middle of the battleground. Faux spots Kirito performing a 2 hit one hand sword skill VERTICAL ARC on ILLFANG and killing him in the process. Any remaining sentinel disappears along with their king.

The light fades from the room and silence reigns.

A window appears in front of the players, stating the EXP, items and gold gained.

"Its… over?" Faux asks to no one in particular

Finally, roars of celebration echoed throughout the chamber, a very clear indication that the 1st floor boss has been defeated.

"Ani-sama! We did it" Czarina jumps on Faux and hugs him. "Thank god! We're all right!"

"Yeah… Good job" Faux pats her on the head.

Faux, with Czarina clinging onto his arm, heads to Kirito to congratulate him for a job well done.

Suddenly, a shout cuts the celebration short

"- WHY! Why did you leave Diabel to die!" roared Kibaou

"Let him die….?" Kirito asks as if not fully understanding the words.

"That's right! Because... Because you knew the skills the boss used, didn't you! If you gave us that information from the start, Diabel wouldn't have died!" Kibaou replies with hate in his voice

With those words, doubt begins to spread amongst the raid group.

"_Shit" _ Faux reaches for his dagger.

He readies himself to attack anyone who attacks Kirito or Gawain. He cares little for the members of the raid group, and if they attempt to attack any of his friends, they are going to have to go through him.

"I... I know! This guy, he's a beta tester! That is why, the boss' attack patterns, good hunting spots and quests, he knows all of them! He hid them despite knowing about them!" a man from Kibaous group yells.

"Even so, the guide that was handed out yesterday, it was written that it was only information on the boss's attack pattern during the beta period, right? If he was really a beta tester, wouldn't his knowledge be the same as in the guide?" Agil says, as if to calm the group with reason

Unfortunately, people only hear what they want to hear

"That strategy guide was a lie. Argo's information shop was selling lies. That person was a beta tester after all, there's no way she would have given us the truth for free." Kibaou roars

Faux steadily unsheathes his dagger. If worse comes to worse, Kibaou is going down….. hard.

Suddenly, an arrogant laughter silences everyone. This came from none other than Kirito himself

"Beta tester, was it? ...Don't lump me together with those amateurs." Kirito said arroganty

"Wha... What was that...?" Kibaou replies in disbelief

"Listen here and remember this. SAO's CBT «Closed Beta Test» had a ridiculously low pass rate for the lottery draw. Out of the one thousand people, how many real MMO gamers do you think got selected? Most of them were just «Newbie» players who didn't even know methods of leveling properly. You guys here are much better than that lot." Kirito explains in an arrogant manner "…. But, I'm not like those guys."

Kirito stays silent for a second, as if to set the mood. He then speaks in a loud voice

"During the beta test, I reached floors that no one else could reach. I learned of the Katana Skills the boss used since I kept fighting mobs that used katanas from a floor way higher. I know way more other things too, there's no way even that Argo person could even match me."

"...What, is that..."

"That's... no longer on the level of a beta tester... that's totally cheating, you are just a cheater!" Kibaou replies in a hoarse voice

The crowd suddenly joins in cursing him, much to Faux's chargin. Among the words thrown at him, the word BEATER was heard

"….. BEATER….that has a good ring to it."

Laughing and grinning, Kirito looks around and arrogantly states

"Exactly, I am a BEATER. From now on, please do not lump me together with those former testers." Kirito says and turns around and heads for the next floor. Kirito opens his menu and equips a black long coat, a move that made his appearance even more menacing.

Faux didn't have to think too much to know what Kirito was doing. He was trying to pull all the hatred for the beta testers onto himself… a BEATER. If his plan goes well, the majority will hate the BEATERS alone, leaving the rest of the beta testers in peace.

"I'll go on and Activate the second floor's transfer gate. From the exit up there it will be a short walk to the district town, if you want to come along, be prepared to be killed by any mob that comes along." Kirito said as he climbs the stairs

…

There was only silence in the cavern as the black swordsman left towards the next floor.

The hooded girl… she already removed her hood thus Faux will now describe her as the chestnut haired girl, chased after the black swordsman.

Faux, together with Czarina and Gawain (Faux is still very VERY pissed at him), began the long journey back.

On the way back, Faux is able to squeeze in a private message to the hero of the day

-To Kirito-

- If you ever need help, always remember, I got your back. Got it?-

-From Faux-

A few seconds later, a reply came

-To Faux-

- Thanks. I'll see you guys later-

-From Kirito-

December 4, 2022- 3:16 PM

The 1st floor was cleared.


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

DEATH

-:-

He stares at the beautiful afternoon horizon, as he reminisces on the past that he, and everyone in SAO, where forced to leave behind.

Underneath the red afternoon sun, the Arabian themed city and the dessert around it glows in gold. From on top of a 50 foot muslim themed tower, Faux cant help but be at awe of what is in front of him.

"_Akihiko Kabaya…. I don't know what you're thinking when you trapped us here… but I gotta say, you got fine taste in art"_ Faux thought

The luke warm wind that hits him every now and then….

The slow dropping temperature as the sun goes down…

The shadows formed by the dunes as the sun sets…

Faux simply cant understand how a crazed mad man can create something so beautiful.

"_Well… it's a bit early, but I should get some dinner"_ Faux thought, draining his hot choco in one go.

From the top of the tower, he checks below to see if there is any NPCs below him.

"_Clear to go!"_

With that, Faux performs what people normally call as INSANE. He stands by the edge then jumps. He summersaults on his way down, and a second later, the town is shaken by a deafening explosion. If he did this outside town, his hp bar would probably go down 75-80 %

"_Me Assassinsta!"_

Faux stands and walks like a badass through the empty streets of the 6th floor town, WADIYA.

"_But seriously.. it's kind of depressing being alone with only NPCs for company…"_

Faux makes his way to a nearby café and orders a food set, comprising of grilled steak and fried rice. While eating, he looks outside the window, then sighs.

"_No one…. I truly am forever alone guy…. *sigh*"_

Today is January 2, 2023, more than 1 year since the start of the death game, SWORD ART ONLINE.

Before clearing the first floor, many have resided themselves to the fact that _SAO IS UNBEATABLE_, thus many of them fought like suicidal maniacs, a big contribution in the early 2000 deaths. But when the 1st floor was cleared, it brought new hope to everyone. The residents of SAO started to clear floors at a break neck pace, as if the 1st month was just a temporary set back.

The current front line resides on the 49th floor, and the race to find the boss room has already begun. As one of the soloist of the front lines, he should stick close to where the action is, but due to his unintentional rise to infamy, he prefers to stay away from the crowd.

To Faux, there are 3 main classifications of players in SAO.

First are the High Level Players which normally are found in the front lines.

Second are the Mediocre Players which can normally be found about 10 floors or more behind the front line.

Finally, there the Cowards, who refused to leave Starting City.

If Faux wants a place free from bounty hunters, he has to shoot between the gap of the Mediocre and the Cowards. With that in mind, he made the 6th floor as his base of operations.

"_Not to mention there's that incident back in December 23 with St. Nicholas The Renegade. I kind of expected it to turn out that way…. But its still depressing as hell. No one will blame me if I want to be alone, right?"_

He looks at his reflection in the glass, and spots not a male in his mid teens, but a monster born out of hate and despair. This monster is so efficient at what it does, that the news of it being on one floor would cause PKs to evacuate with full haste, regardless of their number. This monster took no concern in the fact that death here means real death, and more terrifyingly, it had no intention of stopping.

Just by looking at the monster, Faux wondered

"_How did _**IT**_ end up this way? ….. How did_**I**_end up this way?" _

-:-

-FLASHBACK START-

March 21, 2023

-:-

Small rays of light slowly spreads through the dark and silent town, as dawn fast approaches. Devoid of any human presence, the sound of a single set of footsteps echo through the empty streets. A single figure, Faux, walks through the tight corners of 11th floor town, TAFT.

He navigates through the winding corners until he reaches a small shop named TAMIL'S POTS. As he expected, it was still too early for it to be open.

"_Damn…. Maybe I should have grinded a bit more?"_ He shrugs and takes a seat on the floor just outside the shop. _"Well whatever. Now is a good time to check stock…."_

He waves his hand and manipulates the menus until he gets to the inventory. Massive amounts of monster drops occupied majority of his inventory, and some of them are very rare finds. To a casual gamer, and even veterans, the bulk of the inventory are useless monster drops and will be sold off to a merchant with no second thought.

But he is different. He knew the hidden value of such mundane items

About 80% of the total loot is going to be used for potion making. That is the main reason he is outside Tamil's shop, to turn in his loots in hopes that she will create some high quality pots for him.

The remaining 20% is for something else. Faux is about to embark on a very VERY ambitious weapon creation. It required about 60 items, ranging from monster drops from nearly every floor, to actual weapons created by blacksmiths, for its creation.

He opens his skill menu and checks on the SKILL that caused him to search for the ingredients for the past month. He has no idea on how he was able to get the skill, though he has some theories. All the skill tells him is, one relatively good weaponsmith and tons of items are required to create a weapon that normally doesn't exists in SAO. All he needs to do is to pass the blueprint and the materials to the weaponsmith, and viola!

He already knows a relatively good smith, and he is only 3 items short. Fortunantely and unfortunately, all 3 of the items can be found on the 26th floor, the current frontline.

"_The end of a month long scavenger hunt is finally in sight. *sigh*"_ Faux lets out a sigh of relief.

With nothing better to do, he takes out a bottle of chocolate milk (made by Tamil) and passes the time by watching the sun rise.

45 minutes into his hobo-ing, the door opens. A slightly chubby bespectacled woman exits and approaches him.

"Good morning Tamil" Faux greets her

Tamil, on the other hand, replies with a slightly tired smile

"*sigh* I know I said you can come to me for all of your potion needs…. But its just past dawn! What kind of madman wakes up that early?!" Tamil scolds Faux like a teacher to her student.

Faux shrugs in response.

"My dad pays me to wake up early and clean our family gym. If you have any complaints, blame him." Faux says. "Besides, how in gods name did you know I was already here?"

"Knowing that you're a ridiculously early riser, I checked my friend tracker to see where you are." Tamil looks at him and sighs. "*sighs* But to think you're just outside my shop this early? Not even my most diligent students can do that…. *sigh*….. Anyway, let's talk inside"

Tamil ushers Faux in her shop.

The shop is as small as its outward appearance. Each side of the wall were shelves filled with questionable items, making Tamil's shop a bit menacing to most.

"_Not exactly what you'd expect with the motherly Tamil..." _Faux thought as he inspects a jar with an eye floating within it.

"Well then, show me your goods" Tamil orders Faux.

Faux opens a trade menu and drags most of the items in the inventory into it. He clicks trade without waiting for Tamil to appraise the use of the items. As a regular and a good friend, Faux trusts Tamil wont screw him over.

"Oh... Hmm... Oh my..." Tamil mumbles occasionally, an indication that Faux has stumbled on a bit of a gold mine. "Well, with quality items like this, theres no way even a beginner alchemist can make a crappy item"

"Good to know" Faux replies

"So, you want the usual?"

"Yup, though put in more health pots than usual"

Tamil stares at him for a bit then smiles in a teasing yet motherly manner

"Ho ho ho, going on another date with THAT girl huh?" Tamil says teasingly

"Seriously... when and where did you get that idea?" Faux shrugs it off

"Booo. You should try to act more embarrassed." Tamil says as she starts her potion crafting.

"Can't act embarrassed when there's nothing to be embarrassed about"

"*Tch*... What a boring man you are"

"What can I say? I have the wooing ability of a rock."

"... And you're fine with that?"

"Absolutely. From my point of view, women, dating and all those jazz are investments with little to no return. Its a waste of money and time."

Tamil stops her work in shock

"... You're going to be a virgin for the rest of your life with that attitude"

"Ugh!" Faux flinches "Damn... right in the balls"

"Fu fu fu. Nice reaction!" Tamil gives him a thumbs up." Anyways, give me 30 more seconds and I'll be done."

With nothing to do, Faux inspects the jars filled with god knows what. And as promised, Tamil finishes her potion crafting in 30 seconds later.

"Well, here you go. 50 health potions and 10 smoke bombs. That will be 10K gold" Tamil opens a trade window and drags all the items in.

Faux hesitates after realizing how expensive his order is. Before he can file his complaint, Tamil cuts him off with a wave of her hand.

"NO DISCOUNTS!" Tamil points her finger at him. "We've been through this! I already gave you the bombs for 500 gold! Thats a 50% discount! Any more than that will ruin me!"

In light of Tamil's fury, Faux was given no room to compromise. With no choice on the matter, Faux pays the fee while enduring the pain of monetary loss. With their business concluded, Faux leaves the shop.

"Do _ENJOY _your time, lover boy ... fu fu fu" Tamil teases him on the way out

Without looking back, Faux waves good bye to Tamil

"_Next stop, 19__th__ floor RALBACK"_

-:-

Ralback is a typical medieval town located in the middle of a dead forest, giving the town a bit of a horrific atmosphere. Never the less, as the new dawn illuminates the dark town, the atmosphere changes from that of a horror film to that of a lively town. NPC's and merchant players begin setting up shop, as if trying to get a head start to abuse the large number of dungeon crawlers that are about to start the day.

Faux walks through the plaza and heads for a relatively unknown restaurant near the edge of town. Though classified as a restaurant, it's actually just a stall on the side of the street with a maximum sitting capacity of about 10 people. Never the less, it was the chosen meeting point of his partner.

"_As expected….. I'm too damn early"_ He thought after seeing that he is the only costumer

Faux takes a seat at the edge of the shop and orders 6 pieces of BALUT. A balut is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell. He ate it once when his family went to the Philippines for a vacation trip. It was love at first bite, though his family didn't share his sentiments. They openly expressed their disgust as they watched him eat.

"_Seriously… how can ANYONE hate balut. It tastes better than chicken, especially when mixed with a bit of salt"_ He thought

He cracks a hole on top of the egg and placed a bit of salt inside. He then takes a sip and basks at the light flavor that spreads through his mouth.

"_Akihiko Kabaya… I don't know who you are, but you have fine taste in food"_

Faux removes the shell completely and begins feasting on the 17 day old chick. He makes quick work of the first egg and proceeds on to the second one with gusto. Suddenly, a light tap on his shoulder interrupts his feast.

Faux turns to see a fairly petite and very pretty girl behind him. She had thick dark teal hair that stretched until her shoulder blades. She wore a black sleeveless, tight fit upper garment and thick baggy shorts, giving her the impression of a pretty tomboy. Her arms are wrapped with bandages, though it seems like its more of an accessory than an armor.

"Yo" the girl said with a wave

"er…. Do I know you?" Faux asks. The girl quickly lets loose a fast straight punch that goes past his left ear.

"RUDE!" The girl says. "Are you sure you don't know who I am?!"

"I don't know! I swear! Theres no way I would forget a pretty girl like you!" Faux replies in a panic

The girl stares at him for a second.

"_Yup, now I'm sure. If I knew someone as pretty as her, there's no way I would forget"_ Faux thought

"*sigh* … I guess you really don't know…" The girl blushingly said. "… do I really look THAT different?" She mumbles to herself

She accesses her inventory and equips a long brown hood. She takes out a small red jar, probably make up, and faces the other way. After a few seconds of applying it to herself, she faces Faux once again.

"GOOD FREAKING LORD ALL MIGHTY GOD THE FATHER, SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT!" Faux exclaims as the pretty petite transforms into a very familiar dungeon partner. "ARGO?!

"Oy.. that exaggerated reaction is uncalled for." Argo replies with a sigh

"Like hell its exaggerated! That was the first time I ever saw you without your hood and make up! I always thought you had shoulder length hair" Faux says, not bothering to hide his surprise. "Argo the Rat is actually a bishoujo…. Who knew…"

"Now you know." Argos replies as she takes the seat in front of Faux. "Consider yourself lucky. That info normally costs 1 million gold"

"Lucky me" Faux laughs. "You should do that more often. With a face like that, you would probably be up there with Asuna the Flash"

"S-s-shut up! Eat your damn food and lets go!" Argo replies hastily.

She orders a bowl of ramen and drains it faster than Faux can eat his baluts. Argo rises and leaves, forcing Faux to eat his remaining baluts while walking.

The back track to the summoning stone proceeded in relative silence, mainly because the most vocal of the duo, Faux, is stuffing his mouth with 2 baluts to speed up the eating process.

"Hey…." Argo suddenly speaks. "How long have we been in the same party?"

"*munch* *munch* kjlsadhfbqlwie" Faux replies with his mouth full

"*sigh* Fine... Im sorry for rushing out like that. Finish those… things…. first" Argo stops and waits for Faux to finish his meal

A couple of seconds later, Faux swallows his last balut.

"*sigh* Good stuff. You should try some"

"Er... No. What kind of mad man decided that he want to eat something unborn?"

"How mean! The Brits have those things called SPOTTED DICK! Compared to the balut, those things are nasty"

"What does spotted dick have to do with our conversation?!" Argo rubs her head in frustration. "Besides, spotted dick is a pudding made out of a fruit named currant"

Faux's jaw hits the floor

"N-no way… Its not made of DI-" Faux begins to say

"STOP! Enough! This isn't even the topic of this conversation!" Argo inserts quickly, but the damage is already done.

Faux leans on a nearby wall in shock

"My whole life… has been a lie?" Faux mumbles

"For the love of god! Will you please stop messing around!" Argo says in frustration.

"Aw… don't be such a spoilsport." Faux quickly stops acting. "Anways, to answer your question earlier, we've been partying for about 3 weeks I guess"

"Hm… 3 weeks huh. I never partied with anyone that long." Argo replies. "Its mutually beneficial, so I got no complaints."

"You provide the info for the items I'm looking for, and in return, I help you level up. If you think about it, I got the short end of the stick here." Faux complains. "Besides, how can you, a more experienced player (Beta Tester), need help from someone like me?"

"I'm an information broker, not a soldier. Sooner or later, newbies who grind a lot will leave me in the dust." Argo replies "Anyways, don't sweat over the details, lets just go to our next target"

"No no no. I refuse to let this justice pass!" Faux thinks for a second, then speaks."How about this, if you take off that hood and make up of yours, we'll call it even"

"Huh?! Why do I have to do that?!"

"Coz this deal is unfair, and you know it. Besides, you already gave me all the info I need when we started this partnership. If you refuse, then your going to have to start looking for another leveling partner." Faux flashes an evil smile.

Argo makes a serious face for a second, then sighs. She waves her hand to call the menu then unequips her hood and make up, once again, revealing the beautiful petite girl underneath.

"S-satisfied?" Argo reapplies uncomfortably

"No candy like eye candy." Faux says with a big smile on his face. "Alright! Lets go!"

Faux grabs the embarrassed Argo by the hand and drags her towards the wild blue yonder.

-:-

Aincard is a massive tower with 100 floors to explore. As the players ascend, the floor's diameter becomes slightly smaller than the previous.

On the other hand, the 26th floor is a peculiarly annoying place by any standards. The entire floor is covered by massive trees that almost reach the bottom of the next floor. The annoying feature of this floor is the second field located among the tree's branches, nearly doubling the land area of the 26th floor.

As one of the people who joined the devastating 25th boss battle, Faux is one of the first who reached the first town of floor. Faux nearly had a heart attack when they discovered that the first town, ELMAC, was on top of the 100 foot trees. After getting used to the vertigo, the players proceeded to explore the surprisingly easy layout of the 26th floor. All the players needed to do was to clear the higher floor, then find the hollow tree that they would use as stairs to descend to the base of the trees.

As the days of exploration of the floor went by, players discovered a way to travel from the higher half to the lower half without going through the entire floor. Unfortunately, only the crazier players were brave enough to do it.

"Err… Faux… Do we really have to do this?" Argos asks.

"Yup. The monster we're looking floor is on the bottom half, so we need to go down there." Faux replies

"I know that…. But…" Argo looks at the town of CAMLE, 100 feet below ELMAC.

Yes… the fast way to the lower floor is to jump from ELMAC to CAMLE. Since HP doesn't go down in towns, the jump is 100% safe (though it is 100% terrifying). If they went the long way, it would take 18 hours to reach CAMLE. As the nature of the fast way is considered as clinically insane, only a handful of people would dare do it, making it a rare and entertaining sight on both towns.

People are already gathering around the duo, excited to see them perform the LEAP OF FAITH.

"No… no no no. This is crazy! I know its safe, but its still crazy!" Argo complains, which is a sane and logical action.

Out of impatience, Faux suddenly grabs both of Argo's hands and pulls her close, causing the female audience to "KYAA".

"Eh? Huh?" Argo mumbles in confusion.

Without warning, Faux hugs Argo, causing a louder response from the audience.

"W-wha?" Argo says in a small voice.

Faux can tell that Argo is embarrassed as hell, seeing how she isn't even resisting. He can also feel her erratic heart beat as he keeps her close, though his heart is acting the same for a very different reason. Though hugging a bishoujo like Argo is every man's dream, Faux is planning something cruel.

"_Sorry about this Argo, but 18 hours of trekking is a waste of time"_ Faux apologizes in his head, then he performs the unthinkable.

He hugs Argo tighter, bends his knees then yells

"SUPLEX!"

He throws himself and Argo over the edge.

"YOU BASTAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa -!" Was the last thing the stunned audience heard from Argo.

A few seconds later, an explosion rocks the city of CAMLE, and in the center of it all is Faux. Like a bad ass, he landed on one knee, just like those ninjas in the movies.

A meter to his right lays Argo who was on her back, shocked with what just happened. After a few seconds of no movement, Argo suddenly stands up and confronts Faux.

"You bastard! Ingrate! Scum! Enemy of all women! Go in a hole and die!" Argo, with tears in her eyes, repeatedly hits Faux in the chest.

"Now now, we just shaved 18 hours of walking time. That's a good thing right?"

Argo's face distorts into a twisted smile, a clear indication that Faux is in mortal danger. Before Faux could move, a fist with blue light effects has already made contact with his face, blasting him 10 meters back.

"You damn block head!" Argo roars then leaves.

"_Too much sexual harassment or was it the 100 foot drop? Either way, she's pissed…."_ Faux thought as he gives chase the petite informant.

-:-

The sound of steel-hitting-steel echoes throughout the silent forest near the base of the boss dungeon. At the midst of it all is the duo of Faux and Argo, locked in mortal combat with a dangerously powerful opponent, the field boss PANDARIAN BREWMASTER.

The exploration of the boss dungeon has already begun 2 days ago. As front line player, Faux is fairly confident that his level and strength is enough to solo the field boss, though it will be a very close battle. For that reason, he is thankful that he has Argo as a partner. With her around, their odds of losing is nonexistent.

The 8 foot PANDARIAN BREWMASTER is a fat panda that wields a wooden staff as a weapon. The main reason why Faux will have a horrible time fighting the panda is because of its weapon's reach, which abuses the dagger's primary weakness. As long as the panda can keep him at long range, then there is no hope of winning. On the flip side, the staff's main weakness also happens to be Faux's weapon. If he can get into close range combat, then the staff holds little to no advantage.

Right now, the panda is on its last life bar after the duo reduce it from its original 7 bars, all within the span of 20 minutes of intense combat.

"FOR PANDARIA!" The boss roared as it executes its whirlwind AOE swing. Unfortunately for the panda, this is exactly what the duo was waiting for.

Faux swings his dagger to meet the staff, resulting in both being stunned. Argo quickly closes in on the stunned boss and unleashes hell upon it.

Argo executes 1 hit skill LEFT ELBOW STRIKE

Damage: 2%

Argo executes 1 hit skill PHOENIX PUNCH

Damage: 5%

Argo executes 3 hit skill SLUGGER'S BARRAGE

Damage: 1%- 2%- 4%

Argo executes 1 hit skill LEFT LOW KICK

Damage: 4%

Argo executes 1 hit skill RIGHT ROUNDHOUSE KICK

Damage: 7%

Faux watches at awe of his partner's performance.

The main reason Argo wanted someone to help her level up was because she decided to use UNARMED as her main combat weapon (out of envy of a certain one handed swordsman). Though she kept the details of the quest to a minimum, she told Faux that she needed 3 days to complete the quest and 5 more days just to get used to it, thus resulting in her being left behind in terms of level.

Regardless of its origin, the UNARMED skills requires near perfect foot work, thus showing Argo's godlike skill.

Similar to the DAGGER, UNARMED has the ability to be sword art machineguns, launching one skill after other with little to no delay. An exclusive advantage to the UNARMED is the ability to singlehandedly overwhelms a monster's algorithm with its massive amount of sword skills at its disposal.

On the downside, UNARMED suffers similarly to the DAGGER in terms of range, requiring the user to go up close to do any damage.

UNARMED also suffers in the damage department, even more than the DAGGER. With only the player's gauntlets and boots as weapons, the ability to perform high burst damage is no longer possible.

And lastly, due to the lack of solid durability of other weapons, UNARMED is incapable of weapon parrying or blocking. Doing such actions will normally result in severed limbs, thus forcing pure UNARMED users to go full dexterity to raise their dodging ability.

"Faux! Rapid Switch!" Argo yells, forcing Faux back to reality.

"G-got it!" Faux moves closer to Argo.

The duo performs one of the most dangerous OSS (Out of System Skill) in SAO, the RAPID SWITCH.

Normally, only one player acts as a vanguard to ensure that no friendly fire may occur. In RAPID SWITCH, 2 players fights in very close proximity to each other (normally 3 to 1 inch), effectively confusing the enemy AI ability on which enemy to follow. The risk of friendly fire is very high, which is why a well choreographed set of sword skills is an absolute necessity for the success of RAPID SWITCH.

Faux and Argo is currently executing a routine that they had been practicing for the last 2 weeks. Argo pummels the enemy with quick 2-4 hit combos. Faux would insert powerful 1 hit strikes in between the gaps of Argo's combos. Their moves would miss the other by barely an inch and land hits without a pause, making an illusion that they were dancing.

In the wake of the monstrous 27 hit combo, the panda could do little to defend itself, thus exploding into a storm of blue confetti.

A congratulatory window appears in front of them, stating the exp, gold and items received.

"Nice job Faux." Argo pats Faux in the shoulder. "Our Rapid Switch is getting bet-"

Argo gets cut off as Faux suddenly hugs her. Faux lifts her up, then swings her around.

"Argo you're awesome! 1 month of suffering is finally over and it's all thanks to you!" Faux says as he swings Argo like a rag doll. After a few seconds of spinning, Faux puts the beet red Argo down

"Seriously, you have no tact don't you" Argo scratches her cheek.

"I pride myself for having the social skills of a rock! MWHAHAHAHA" Faux laughs loudly, unable to hide his joy

"He he he, you're a retard" Argo replies. "So you have all the items you need?"

"Yup! The DRUNKARDS WALKING STICK, PANDA'S TAIL and the THING BETWEEN THE LEGS. That's all of them! Seriously Argo, you are awesome!"

"I see…. So this is good bye then?" Argo replies with a hint of sadness on her voice, which was met by a slightly surprised Faux

"Eh? Why?"

"Our deal is done. You got your items, so my assistance is no longer necessary"

Faux thinks for a bit.

"Hmm… wasn't our deal _You give me info about my items, and in return I help you level up_?" Faux asks

"Yeah it is. What about it?"

"You never said that our deal ends when I get my items"

"…. Eh?" This time, it was Argo who was surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you see…. Being a soloist is boring as hell, you know. I do enjoy your company so…." Faux replies.

Truth be told, Faux is having a hard time delivering the sentence properly. Though similar to confessing ones love, Faux bares no such feelings, though it's still very embarrassing. He already enjoys Argo's company, way before he discovered that she was a beauty.

Argo blushes and turns away.

"W-what about THE ARMY? You haven't been back there for a month or so. I heard they're practically forcing you to come back since the damage they took at the last floor." Argo quickly replies, as if trying to change the subject.

"Really? I never heard of it." Faux shrugs."I only joined THE ARMY coz Gawain and Czarina decided to join in. At best, I'm a nameless grunt and a ghost member. Besides…. I cant stand the leader of Czarina's faction, Kibaou…. Anyways, even if I do return to THE ARMY, I'll make time for our raids… Is that no good?"

"*sigh* It's a pain to find another one who can do RAPID SWITCH as good as you can." Argo faces Faux. She holds out her hand with the very beautiful smile. "I'll be in your care till whenever"

"Same here." Faux takes her hand. "Partners till whenever."

-:-

After they killed the field boss, the duo returns to TAFT.

"Hey Faux. I've been wondering…. What are those items for?" Argo says as they navigate through the backstreets

"I didn't tell you about it before?"

"Nope, that's why I'm asking"

Faux puts his hands on his cheek.

"I cant tell you…. Its so embarrassing! KYA!" Faux then proceeds to act like a disgusting faggot.

Argo stares at him quietly

"… that is one of the most disgusting plays I have ever seen you do."

"And I am proud of it!" Faux puffs his chest in pride. " Most people would think twice of asking me the same question."

"Come on! Just a one hint will -" Argo begins to say until Faux suddenly starts shaking his hips in a disturbing manner. "Fine! I wont ask! Just stop doing that!"

"WAHAHAHA!"

The two continues on to the edge of town until they reach a shady looking shop with skulls and other creepy stuff for its design. Despite Argo's clear reluctance to enter the shop, Faux marches in with no care.

After they entered, it becomes clear that it is a weaponsmith's shop, though the creepy factor goes up a notch. On the wall, weapons of various size and shape with brutal looking designs are on display. Just to make it worse, the owner of the shop is a man that looked like something straight from a Russian war film. He is about 6'11", fat and has a scar torned face.

"Ah Faux, glad to see you agai-" The man takes a look at Argo (she shook in fear), then says " Ho ho… and here I thought you were beyond hope"

"Andrei… not you too." Faux replies with a sigh. "Does everyone believe that I'll end up a forever alone guy?"

"Da. With that gamer attitude of yours, its no surprise that everyone will think of that" Andrei replies then laughs. "Skazheete, who's the girl?"

Faux urges Argo to stand beside him.

"I'm sure your familiar with ARGO THE RAT right?"

"Da, the information broker?"

"Well, this is her" Faux replies.

"N-nice to meet you" Argo bows, a hint of fear in her voice

"Argo, this is Andrei, an acquaintance of mine back IRL." Faux introduces Andrei to Argo

"Och-en pree-yat-na" Andrei replies.

Argo looks at Faux in confusion.

"Just like how he looks, he's part of ORGANIZATSIYA, a Russian version of a yakuza"

"Y-yakuza?" Argo trembles in fear

"Don't be scared. Despite how he looks, he is actually a pretty decent guy" Faux explains.

Though not convinced, Argo nods.

"Anyways" Faux turns to Andrei " I got all the ingredients Andrei. Lets make this happen!"

"PREKRASNIY! Davaj, lets go to the back!" Andrei said excitedly.

The three heads for the door at the back but Andrei stops Argo.

"Pra-stee-te…. I mean, I'm sorry. You cannot enter beyond this point Argo" Andrei says apologetically

"Why?! I helped gathering those things!" Argo expresses her outrage.

Andrei puts his hands on his cheeks and says…

"I- I cant tell you…. Its too embarrassing! KYA!" Andrei replies in a very disturbing manner, much to Argo's horror. The sight of a hard core military man trying to act cute is disturbing in many levels.

The two enters the room, leaving the shocked Argo rooted to the floor.

-:-

When Argo recovers from her shock, she pressed her ears to the door. Though not very high, she invested a bit on her LISTENING skills. She normally uses this to gather info without anyone knowing otherwise.

"Hmm… - weird…. Isn't… light?"

She cant hear them perfectly, but she can instantly recognize Faux's voice.

"…. Its…. Damage reduc-…..horri-…. -cond form… powerf-"

"_That must be Andrei"_ Argo thought

Unfortunately, their voices are so inaudible that she couldnt understand a word they were saying. After a few seconds and a few more futile attempts, she surrenders.

"_*sigh* whatever… He'll eventually show me what that it is"_

After about a minute of waiting, Faux and Andrei exits the room. Argo's eyes instantly turns to the thing hanging on Faux's left arm.

"Sorry for the wait Argo." Faux says, but Argo ignores it.

"A…. shield?" Argo asks as she stares at the shield.

It is a black standard size shield round shield without any creepy design, which she kinda expected considering the nature of the shop. Truth be told, it was devoid of any design at all. It was just a simple round piece of metal, which is very uncommon to the stylish world of SAO. Another thing that she noticed is the sharp edges of the shield, as if it was ment to be used as a weapon.

"Isnt it heavy?" Argo asks

"You'd be surprise, but not as heavy as it looks." Faux replies. "Sure, it wrecks my balance a bit, but I'll get used to it"

"…. Seriously? 60 items and a 1 month long hunt just for a round piece lightweight of metal? No way in hell that's it" Argo says in disbelief. "There has to be some sort of secret to it! Tell me! I'll pay you depending on how interesting the info is!"

Argo and Faux enters a stare off for a few seconds, until Faux breaks the ice.

"You know, I'll probably act like a faggot to dodge that question."

Argo facepalms then sighs

"…. I guess your gona do it too, Andrei?" Argo speaks to the big man behind Faux

"Da. Acting like a complete retard seems to work well in dodging questions." Andrei replies with a big smile

"*sigh* Fine… I give up. You'll eventually show me what it is right, Faux?" Argo says

"Yup. Eventually" Faux replies in a cool manner

Faux pays Andrei for his services. After saying goodbye, the two leaves the shop.

"So… where to next?" Argo looks at Faux, but Faux does not reply.

His face is stiff as a rock. Argo looks to where he is looking and finds 5 figures, all wearing THE ARMY heavy armor. The only girl in the group, a beautiful white haired girl, steps forward. She stares menacingly at Argo for a second, then looks at Faux

"Faux ….." She says in a cold manner.

Argo suddenly hears a whisper beside her.

"Looks like your right Argo, they really want me back…. By force if necessary…" Faux says grimly. "Sorry, but looks like I'll be gone for a bit"

Argo sighs in resignation but unlike earlier, she wasn't sad.

"Yeah… It cant be helped." Argo replies. "PM me when you're free K?"

"Will do." Faux smiles with a bit of sadness in it.

With one last slap on the shoulder from Argo, Faux reluctantly goes with the 5 man escort.

-:-

Faux is very confused and the situation is not making it any easier for him to be otherwise. He is still a bit depressed about leaving Argo behind, but current situation is too weird for such emotions.

Czarina and her lackeys caught him just outside Andrei's shop and escorted him back to the teleporter. From there, they teleported to STARTING CITY on the 1st Floor, which happens to be the home base of THE ARMY.

So far so good.

The next things that should have happened are that Faux would be presented to the leaders, then he would receive sanctions for his negligence.

But that was not the case.

The group led him outside the city, and began their trek on a familiar road. Faux asked Czarina a couple of times where they were going, but all he got was a familiar death glare in response. Never the less, based on the road they were taking and their general direction, Faux could guess where they were heading.

Hours of trekking goes by until they reached their destination.

"_So I was right…. HORUNKA VILLAGE"_ Faux thought as they approached a small village deep within the maze-like forest

Just outside the village are 5 people. 3 of them, Faux was not familiar. 1 of them is Gawain, who looked very grim, as if he came here against his will. The other one was the last person Faux wanted to meet, the leader of a hardcore faction in THE ARMY, Kibaou.

"_Damn…. Looks like this is gonna get ugly"_ Faux thought.

"So…. Whats this about Kibaou?" Faux asks casually, which pisses off Kibaou.

But if Faux thinks about it, was there a time where he has seen Kibaou with a grouchy face?

"Do you really have to ask?!" Kibaou shouts

"Yeah, I do" Faux replies calmly, which pisses off Kibaou even more.

"You selfish bastard! Unlike your friends, you just abandoned the guild after damage we took at the last floor! You leveled up selfishly while we suffered!"

Faux was surprised.

"_Is this guy for real?"_ Faux thought

"Calm down Kibaou. Let me talk for a bit" Said Gawain as he approaches Faux. "Listen man, the point is, a lot of people are annoyed that you never show up during any of our guild activities."

"Why should it matter if I show up or not? Unlike you guys who have position, I'm just a nameless grunt. I wouldn't do any good even if I attended." Faux said, while keeping his annoyance in check

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Czarina roars before Gawain could even talk. "We were suffering and our ranks were decimated! You could have helped!"

"And how do you suggest I do that? Like I said, I'm just a nameless grunt." Faux replies as calmly as he could.

"WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! You're hoarding items and selling them to the highest bidder! I may not know how much money you got from selling those items, but I know it would have helped a lot of people if you shared it!" Czarina explains.

Faux did start selling his rare finds in the action houses to fund his escapades, that much he can admit. He can also guess that Czarina doesn't know what alias he has been using to sell his wares. What he cant understand is why should he give his hard fought money to a bunch of dead weights.

This is a death game, not a charity case. If they want their share of the pie, they have to work for it. They cant expect the ones who risk their lives to keep feeding their stomachs.

"Under the authority of sub leader Kibaou, I command you, Faux, to relinquish all of your belongings" Czarina said without a hint of emotion.

"You have got to be-!" Faux complains

"IF YOU'RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, THEN YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!" Czarina roars.

That was the favorite line of their mother, which she normally points to troublesome employees.

And that made Faux snapped.

For the first time in his entire life, he lets loose a glare of pure hate at his sister.

As if realizing that her words have gone too far, Czarina's turns pale in fear.

Realizing the rising tension, Gawain tries to calm the situation.

"L-listen to me Faux. P-please understand that the guild is in shambles. We all need to chip in to-" Gawain explains but he was cut off when Faux directs a glare at him.

This time, it was not just hate, Faux made sure that his killing intent is known. All 10 people, even Kibaou, knew in an instinctual level, that they would die the moment they cross Faux.

Faux then realizes why there are so many people present. This event is a makeshift attempt for extortion, with Kibaou as its mastermind. What pisses him off even more is that Czarina and Gawain, who clearly knows whats going on, is taking part of it.

Ofcourse, he understands where their point of view, thus he barely restrains his rage. He throws one last death glare to everyone present, then turns to leave.

"Faux! Please wait! Let me exp-"Recovering herself, Czarina quickly chases after Faux, but that was a mistake.

In one fluid motion, Faux unsheathes his dagger and drives into Czarina's gut, taking away 52% hp.

Czarina looks at the dagger, unable to understand the situation.

Faux punches her in the face, knocking her on her back.

"A-ani… sama?" Czarina says in confusion, as she tries to reach out to Faux.

Faux looks down at her with eyes full of hate. Faux then realizes that his HP bar has changed from color green to orange, an indication that he is now a criminal.

"Faux you bastard!" Gawain roars as he unsheathes his blade and charges.

The others follows suite and charges at Faux. Unfortunately, Faux was already ready for them. Behind his shield, Faux was holding a smoke bomb just in case if it gets nasty. He squeezes the bomb, and black mist quickly covers the field, blinding everyone within it.

This is Faux's trump card.

For 30 seconds, the black mist prevents any means of visual and radar detection from working. SEARCHING, TRACKING and XRAY VISION are some of the abilities that will not work within the mist. To counter act the blinding effect, Faux increased his LISTENING skill to keep track of his enemies. By listening to their footsteps, voices and breathing, Faux can guess their position, where they are facing, and even their level of stress.

As expected of the 1st timers, everyone goes into a panic, causing to shout out orders or ask for help.

"H-hey! Can anyone see him?"

"No. Calm down and regro- ARGH!"

Something hits the ground

"What the hell was that?!"

"Joey? Are you alright?"

"D-damn! Fuck this shit, I'm out of – WAAA!"

"Guney?! What happened! Talk to- AHH! HELP!"

"Y-You coward! Show yourself! WHERE ARE YOU!" Kibaou roars.

To his horror, a voice answers from behind.

"Here" whispered Faux as he hacked and stabbed Kibaou repeatedly

"WAAAAA!"

For 30 seconds, Faux decimates their ranks with no effort. By the time the mist clears, no members of THE ARMY are left standing. 9 of them had red hp's, 5 of those had atleast one limb missing. Kibaou received the worst wounds, with both of his arms missing.

Faux can see awe and fear in their eyes, an understandable reaction. 10 vs 1 is something unheard of in SAO.

"You…. You're a BEATER aren't you!" Kibaou yells.

Faux cant help but sigh at his statement

"I wish I was, but no, I'm not a BEATER" Faux replies

"LIES! "There's no way anyone can beat 10 players at the same time!"

"While you were playing politics, I was grinding my ass off in the frontlines." Faux says in a cold manner. "the reason you lost is obvious. All of you are WEAK"

Everyone is forced to silence as the truth is slapped into their faces,

Making sure that no one is able enough to follow him, Faux turns and leaves.

"Ani-sama, I'm sorry, please forgive me!" A downed Czarina pleads.

Still very pissed off, Faux calls down the menu and performs 2 things. 1st, he leaves the guild. 2nd and probably the cruelest one, he removes Gawain and Czarina from his friend list, which in turn, removes him from their friend list.

He leaves, and for the first time in his life, he ignores the cries of his sister.

-:-

Stressed

That's the word Yuriel often used to describe herself. As the holder of the 2nd highest rank in THE ARMY, she is bound to be stressed. Unfortunately, her work is not the main sources of her stress. All she needs to do is look out her window, and her stress levels will shoot through the roof.

Outside her office lies a fairly large tree, and the person sitting underneath its shade is the main source of her stress. Like a stringless marionette, Czarina has been sitting there ever since the Faux Incident, 3 days ago. For 3 days straight, Czarina has not moved, talked, eaten or slept.

Like a dog, Czarina continues to sit there, as if waiting for a certain someone to return.

As a good friend of hers, Yuriel wanted to comfort her more than anything. Unfortunately, any careless words may hurt her friend even more, thus Yuriel refrained talking to her until she got her facts straight. Though Kibaou and his group tried to keep a lid on it, Yuriel easily found out about the incident through Gawain.

Czarina is madly in love with Faux way before being trapped in SAO, Yuriel knew that much. Faux's prolonged absence must have frustrated Czarina to no end, thus forcing Czarina to do some stupid things. Yuriel theorized that by stripping Faux of all of his belongings, Czarina can forcefully make him stay by her side.

"_But the planned backfired…. horribly"_

Faux has grown too strong for anyone within the guild to match. Without a doubt, Faux's strength has always been above even THE ARMY's most elite members.

"_After being betrayed by his most trusted friends, it's no surprise that Faux left the guild."_ Yuriel sighs._" Well, I guess its time for me to step in"_

Fortunately for Yuriel, Sinker still has Faux in his friend list, thus its easy to get Faux's side of the story. Yuriel finishes her work, then heads for the tree outside.

A few moments later, she stands in front of the lifeless Czarina. Knowing that Czarina will ignore what she has to say, she decides to use PM.

-to Czarina-

You don't seem to understand why Faux attacked you

-from Yuriel-

After reading Yuriel's message, Czarina's face distorts in a sarcastic smile.

"I don't understand?! What's there to understand?! He attacked ME! He HATES ME! The kind hearted Faux who has always supported me….. HATES ME! HOW CAN I NOT UNDERSTAND THAT?!" Czarina yells while tears stream from her eyes.

Yuriel calmly types her reply

-to Czarina-

Unlike you, Gawain understood Faux's lesson.

-from Yuriel-

"W-what do you mean?" Czarina replies in confusion.

-to Czarina-

You have become cocky just because you got a high position in THE ARMY. There is no way a dagger can take more than half the life of a heavy armored player in one strike….. unless there is a large gap in terms of items and level

SAO is a MMORPG, do not forget that fact. The only way to truly help the people is to clear the game. Those who cannot fight for themselves and those who hide under the protection of the strong are dead weight. If you do not level up and get the best items, then you cannot clear the game.

Faux is telling you that he has gone on ahead. If you want to get him back in your friend list, then you better catch up

-from Yuriel-

"Th-then Faux doesn't hate me?" Czarina asks

"He never did. He was a bit pissed off, but there is no way he would hate you" Yuriel replies with a kind smile

Tears well up in Czarina's eyes, as she cries in joy.

"Thank God…. Thank god…" Czarina repeatedly says

"I suggest you eat up and sleep, because when you wake up, you're going to be busy."

"But….. what about the guild?" Czarina asks, which was met by a smiling Yuriel.

"Who do you think I am? Leave the guild to me and go chase after your beloved Faux"

Czarina wipes the tears in her eyes, and with renewed determination, she says

"Yes!"

-:-

2 WEEKS LATER

Faux falls on his butt, exhausted by the battle that he has just fought.

"_That was….. insane…."_ Faux thought as he calms his rampaging heart.

This marks his first field boss kill using THAT. The field boss is the werewolf BANE HOLLOW of the 28th floor, the current front line. It was the toughest battle he has faced, especially considering that the enemy is his natural weakness. The WOLF PLAINS, as the name suggest, is a large plain which gives the enemies a lot of room to maneuver. With hit and run as its main weapon, BANE HOLLOW forced Faux to retreat twice, which in turn, made him use a lot of potions and smoke bombs.

Because of pride and financial reasons, Faux had no choice but to kill the field boss. Using THAT as a first strike, Faux was able to instantly setting the tide in his favor. Thankfully, it was still 7 am in the morning, thus he used THAT without reservations.

He looks at his black round shield in admiration

"_This thing is awesome! Thank god I was able to get it"_ Faux thought._ "on the down side…. It takes one hell of a bite out of my wallet…. *sigh*"_

Faux didn't really needed to fight the field boss, but he was in such a good mood that he felt like he could do anything. Even facing an unfamiliar field boss alone….. What a retard.

'Why is he such in a good mood' You ask?

The answer is simple.

Gawain sent a message through Sinker, stating that he wants to form a party to hunt a field boss on the 22nd floor. Gawain wants to prove that he is catching up to Faux, and Faux will enjoy teasing him, thus a win-win situation.

"_It's a bit early, but I guess I could go ahead"_

Faux takes out a teleport crystal

"TELEPORT ISPELIA!"

-:-

The entire 22nd floor is comprised of one massive, near perfect triangle mountain, with ISPELIA situated at the very top of it. Just like the 26th floor, you have to go down in order to go up. Unlike the 26th floor, the terrain is fairly straight forward, thus easy to navigate.

Faux exits ISPELIA and begins his decent down the windy mountain.

A few minutes of navigating through the rocky mountain, Faux hears a familiar sound of clashing swords.

"_An early riser aside from myself? That's rare."_ Faux thought. But before he could brush it off as a simple raid group, a voice stops him in his tracks.

"Somebody! help!" said an almost inaudible male voice.

Bad feelings courses up his spine. Faux sticks to the shadows while moving towards the source of the fighting. In a small clearing, he spots 10 people, 9 orange players surrounding 1 downed green player.

"_Shlt…. Player killers. There's too many…."_

Faux just used all of his trump cards on the field boss, thus he is reluctant to take on 9 players at once. He gets closer and activates his HEARING skill to get a better grasp at the info

"Paralysis. Interesting isn't it?" A playful female voice says.

From his current distance, Faux can make out the girl's profile. She sports a blond twin tails, wears a red and black gothic Lolita attire, and wields a spear.

"Why!? Why are you doing this?!" Said a male voice.

To Faux's horror, the voice is very familiar. He couldn't see him, but he can recognize his voice anywhere.

"_GAWAIN?!"_

Faux moves out of cover and charges towards the group. There is still a bit of distance to cover, thus being stealthy will slow him down.

"_Please make it in time!"_

"Fu fu fu. Why you ask?" The girl replies gleefully."Coz is fun! This thrill of killing someone is something you don't feel in the real world! Right POH-sama?" She says to the hooded person behind her.

The hooded figure says nothing, but a smile can be seen in his face. He nods at the girl, a sign that the girl takes in delight.

"Fu Fu Fu! Thank you POH-sama!" She turns to Gawain and raises her spear. "Well then, Flandre will do her best! Like what POH-sama usually says, ITS SHOW TIME!"

"NO!" Faux raised his voice as he pumps his legs for more speed.

Everyone notices his presence but were too surprised to make any moves. One of them moved to block his path, but Faux simply swatted him away with his knife, dealing 21% damage. Without confirming what happened to his victim, Faux moves past him and heads straight for Gawain.

**But it was too late.**

The girl stabs Gawain in the back, effectively reducing his life to zero.

Gawain looked at Faux with renewed hope and vigor.

_You're late! Now that you're here, its time for our counter attack!_

That's the message Faux saw in Gawain's eyes.

**But it was too late.**

Full of confidence that Faux will come for him and save the day.

**But it was too late.**

Full of confidence that they will go back to the bumbling idiots that they were.

**But it was too late.**

Full of confidence that they will make out of SAO alive.

**But it was simply too late.**

Gawain disappears in a familiar blue flame, still filled with confidence that their duo will prevail, just like always.

**Yes…. It is truly too late.**

Faux was in shock. His momentum drops to a crawl and like a zombie, he slowly approaches the spot where Gawain disappears. He drops on his knees and touches the ground, as if searching for any signs of Gawain.

The PK's laughed at his reaction, but he pays them no mind.

"_Gawain, dead? THAT Gawain? The Sun Knight? The one that I could never beat even if I trained for a thousand years? Dead? No way" _ Faux denies with all his might, even if he already understood what has happened.

"He is dead you know" The man that Faux swatted away says."But don't worry, you're gonna join him in a second"

The world slows down

Faux looks at him as he raises his mace

"_Gawain is dead?"_

The mace is swung down

"_Gawain died…. JUST FOR FUN?!"_

Faux swings and the mace flies through the air…. along with the arm that was holding it. Before the mace user can react, Faux chops him in half from the groin up to his head, killing him in one go.

Faux rises with no emotion in his face, surprising even himself. Who knew that when one's rage goes past a certain point, that person would become calm. He begins marking them as targets, with the red gothic lolita as his primary target. This action signifies that he no longer considers them as humans, but as monsters that needs to be killed

Around him, the player killers are stunned that their companion was killed in one go, a clear sign that he is much stronger than they are. Faux moves before they could recover their senses.

Faux executes 3 hit skill TRIANGLE EDGE on two handed sword wielder TARGET A

Damage: 63% - Both arms dismembered

Katana wielder TARGET B strikes Faux from behind

Damage: 14%

Faux changes target and lunges at TARGET B. He executes 5 hit reverse grip skill PENTA STAB

Damage: 11%- 19%- 26%- 31%- 38%

TARGET B dies

Faux changes back to proper grip and changes target to TARGET A. He executes 1 hit running stab type skill STINGER

Damage: 48%

TARGET A dies

Faux moves shield to block incoming blows from dagger wielding TARGET C.

Faux attempts to execute sword skills but TARGET C's relentless barrage of blows prevents him from doing so.

Faux abandons sword skills and begins trading blows with TARGET C.

At this point, none of the other PK's moved as they watched the fight in front of them, much to Faux's relief and dismay. He is very thankful that he isn't being overwhelmed by multiple foes, but he is annoyed at the high level skill of TARGET C.

Faux is confident of his dagger skills, even without using sword skills, but his opponent is just as good. The agility type TARGET C threw blow after blow in hopes of overwhelming Faux. Using his shield, Faux is able to parry and block most of the barrage, while dishing out his slower yet more powerful counters. Though the battle looked like a stalemate, Faux is chipping off TARGET C's hp at a faster rate.

Suddenly, a dagger hits Faux on the back, causing him to fall over. He tries to get up but his body is as stiff as a rock. He then notices a symbol next to his HP bar.

"_Damn it! Paralysis?!"_

TARGET C approaches him slowly and casually.

"You're pretty good. Its been a while since someone fought me in equal ground" TARGET C says arrogantly. He raises his dagger, and with a smile of certain victory, he says. "It's a waste that for someone like you to die so early, but it cant be helped. Good bye friend"

Defiant to the very end and as an only means to resist, Faux throws TARGET C a glare full of hate and malice. With a satisfied smile, TARGET C swings his dagger down.

.

.

.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" A loud voice out of nowhere yells, causing TARGET C to stop.

TARGET C sets up a defensive stance then is pushed back by a red head, thuggish looking samurai. The battlefield quickly erupts into chaos as more samurai-looking player enters the fray, causing panic amongst the PKs.

"Damn it!" TARGET C yells as he jumps back.

The red samurai stands at the ready to protect Faux. When he was confident that the PKs aren't targeting Faux anymore, he takes out an paralysis cure potion and helps Faux drink it.

"Don't worry kid, we're here to help." The samurai says

The moment the paralysis was removed, Faux quickly stands and rushes towards the nearest PK. Though he is thankful for the samurai's assistance, Faux could only think of killing the PKs and nothing more.

A sword and shield TARGET D is engaged with a fat polearm samurai. Faux attacks from behind with PENTA STAB, killing TARGET D before he could even turn to defend himself.

Faux's quick return to the battlefield forces the PKs to make a hasty retreat. The gothic lolita, TARGET C and two others takes out their teleport crystals, then runs while Faux was busy killing TARGET D.

With 30 meters between them, Faux is now too far to pursue the PKs. Out of desperation, Faux takes out a throwing dagger and hurls it with all his might. The dagger hits the gothic lolita in the back, but as expected, the damage was only 1%.

With no hope of chasing down his primary target, Faux can only throw threats at them

"YOU'RE DEAD BITCH! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU!" Faux roars at the gothic lolita as they disappear.

And with that, the battle ends.

Faux turns around and sees the samurai players gathered around a single orange player. The red head samurai notices Faux and approaches him.

"We were able to catch one of them. Looks like he didn't have enough money to buy a teleport crystal" He said to Faux.

"I see….. his mine then." Faux said with an emotionless voice. He walks towards the PK, but is blocked by the red head samurai.

"Listen, I know he tried to kill you, but you shouldn't stoop to his level. You should surrender him to THE ARMY"

Out of frustration, Faux points his dagger at his savior. The other samurais begin readies their weapons to help their ally, but the red head signals them to stand down.

"I just lost my childhood friend to them. Do you understand? My next door neighbor, the guy who I grew up with, the guy who got into trouble with me is DEAD! AND HE DIED JUST COZ KILLING IS FUN!" Faux tries to calm himself down and speaks normally. "You saved my life and I am eternally grateful for that. But I will not allow my vengeance to be denied"

After a few seconds of silence, the red head samurai makes a difficult face and moves aside.

"Thanks" Faux says

"Just make it quick" The samurai replies, clearly disgusted at the turn of events.

Faux approaches the PK, grabs him by the neck and sticks his knife on his forehead.

"Those who escaped, what's their name?" Faux asks emotionlessly.

"Hahahaha! If your gonna threaten me, you're gonna have to do better than that!" The PK replies arrogantly.

He clearly doesn't understand his situation, thus Faux will MAKE him understand. Faux slowly shoves the dagger into his forehead, causing small but continuous DOT (Damage Over Time). As more of the dagger enters his skull, the DOT increases. There is also the psychological effect of watching a piece of steel entering the body, thus only after a few seconds, the PK starts screaming in fear.

"I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK, SO STOP IT!" He said desperately, but Faux does not stop.

"Start talking before the DOT kills you" Faux replies as he shoves another millimeter into his skull.

"FINE FINE! The dagger user you fought is POH, he is like the leader of the group!"

Faux shoves in another millimeter

"AH! Shit! The goth loli is POH's fan girl, her named FLANDRE!"

Another millimeter

"Will you fucking slow down!"

Another millimeter

"FUCK! The one that threw a paralysis coated dagger at you is JOHNNY BLACK!"

Another millimeter

"DAMN! The last one isn't anyone special, his name is MARCUS! THAT'S ALL OF THEM, SO STOP IT!"

Faux pulls out the dagger from his forehead.

PK's HP: 2%

The PK breathes hard and lets out a bit of laughter in relief.

"Phew…. I did what you said. You'll let me live right?" The PK asks with hopeful eyes.

A second of silence passes, then Faux raises his dagger high.

"Of course not." Faux replies with no emotion.

"NO DON'T!" The red samurai who was silent until now, moves to stop Faux, but he was too late.

Faux stabs the PK, thus reducing his HP to zero and killing him.

The samurais watch in silent horror as the one they saved murders in front of them.

Faux raises his dagger again and stabs the ground where nonexistent PK lies. He raises his dagger and does it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

There was no fear.

There was no sorrow.

There was no rage.

There was only an empty shell of a young man.

And with each stab, the young man breaks a little more.

And the members of the FUURINKAZAN can do nothing but bare witness till the young man shatters.

-:-

-FLASHBACK END-

-:-

Faux stirs from an uncomfortable sleep.

"_Man…. That dream again…."_ Faux thought as he sits properly.

He is still at the restaurant, but at some point in time, he fell asleep on the table. He then notices that he has received a bunch of mails while he slept.

He has 4 of them.

The 1st came from his regular partymate, Argo. The message states the amount of gold that she earned while acting as his representative in the auction house.

"_Ho… she made a lot this time around. As expected of Argo"_

The 2nd came from his savior, Klein of the guild FUURINKAZAN. The message states about a major meeting within the frontliners about future plans and information sharing. Klein insists that Faux should attend once in a while.

"_Seriously… does Klein still not know how infamous I am? The thought of walking in a place where there are so many high level players is crazy!"_

The 3rd came from his mentor, the soloist Kirito. The message contained some quest info's and general advice on other matters.

"_As expected of Kirito-sensei. He knows his stuff"_

The last message came from a person whom Faux cant help but be cautious of. The message is similar to Klein's, but it also has the usual guild invitation, which Faux has been refusing for the Xth time.

"_This guy knows my rap sheet, and he still tries to get me into his guild? Heathcliff…. What are you up to…."_

Ever since they met, Heathcliff has been inviting him to join his guild, THE KNIGHTS OF THE BLOOD. Every time they meet face to face, Faux keeps experiencing a sensation similar to fear. He cant understand it, but the infamous PKK Faux, the scourge of the PK community, instinctively FEARS Heathcliff.

"…_. Well whatever. I'll find out soon enough"_

Faux leaves the restaurant and heads for the Teleporter.

"_Well then…. How shall I die today?"_


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

JORMUNGAND

-:-

_I may devour the 5 continents_

_And swallow the 3 seas_

_But a body with neither wings,_

_Nor Hands,_

_Nor Feet,_

_Is powerless against the sky._

_I am the world serpent_

_My name is -_

-:-

"_This is a waste of time…"_ Czarina thought as she sat amongst the sub leaders of THE ARMY

The massive table is perfectly round, with the maximum sitting capacity of 30 people. It is located at the very back of their home base, THE BLACK IRON CASTLE. The room and the table are normally used for meetings, such as what they are having right now.

"_Real world or not, politics is the same no matter where or when it is."_ She thought as she looks at the squabbling of her fellow sub leaders.

Today is January 3, 2023, more than 1 year since the beginning of SAO, and the players are clearing the floors at break neck speed. A week ago, the 48th floor was cleared, and without a pause, the exploration of the 49th floor began with gusto. Right now, the boss room is still nowhere to be found, but it is only a matter of time before someone will stumble on it.

Ofcourse, the progress is no thanks to THE ARMY.

Ever since the 25th floor, THE ARMY turned from one of the main groups of the front line, to a pathetic excuse of an organization. Aside from the founder Sinker and his second in command, Yuriel, majority of the sub leaders fights for what little control they have left.

"_What happened to the OH SO NOBLE cause of clearing the game in an orderly manner? This really makes me regret being promoted to a sub leader"_

During the 1st year, the rate of PK's took a sharp rise for no good reason. At one point, the players victimized by the PKs rose up and began fighting back, giving birth to the PKKs (Player Killer Killers). Though very very few in numbers, the rage driven PKKs grinded like there was no tomorrow, and eventually, most of them ended up as powerful front liners. There are rumors saying that they are as strong as the beaters.

One of them happens to be Faux.

"_*sigh* I'm still weak….. I hope this stupid meeting ends quickly. I need to train"_

During her deep thinking, she doesn't realize that the conversation has already focused on her.

"Hey! Czarina! Listen to me damn it!" said Kibaou

"Huh?!" Czarina replies arrogantly "Why should I listen to you?"

"You bitch... You're suppose to be the head of the PK suppression group. And yet, after 2 weeks on the job, you don't even have any info on our primary target! (FAUX)" Kibaou replies.

"Heh… says the retard who, for 2 months, station tons of troops in every teleporter in every floor. Even with all that man power, you didn't even get a look at Faux. Its no wonder that I replaced you." Said Czarina, as she enjoy watching Kibaou anger filled face.

Ever since Faux left the guild (and destroyed Kibaou's party), Kibaou has been determined to get revenge. After the death of Gawain, the news that Faux turned into a PKK, spread like wild fire. Using that opportunity, Kibaou was able garner support to create the PK suppression squad. Unfortunately, after 2 months in active duty, he not only failed to catch Faux, but also failed to capture any PKs and PKKs. He was voted off his position and was replaced by Czarina, and he has been trying to take back the position ever since.

"Well aren't you arrogant?! I haven't seen any proof that you're doing any better!" Kibaou roars.

After a second of silence, Czarina laughs arrogantly.

"Ho ho ho ho ho! That's what makes you so incompetent Kibaou. You failed to understand the PKs mindset, so its no surprise that you couldn't catch any of them!" Czarina retorts. The entire room was silent as they watch the two's heated exchange. "PKs have an ASSASSIN mindset. They are like shadows, they strike, then disappear without a trace. All they need to do is change their appearance, making your roadblocks useless."

Though silent, majority of the sub leaders nod in agreement. Kibaou is not happy, which makes Czarina very happy. She continues her gloating.

"On the other hand, if you gather info about the target before going after them, then you can take them down no matter what they do."

"Then prove it! Let's hear what info you got!" Kibaou replies hastily, and is met by a sadistic smile from Czarina.

Kibaou is really not happy.

"Lets talk about YOUR primary target then." Czarina calls down her inventory and takes out a small notebook. She flips to a certain page, clicks, drags and flicks it to the center of the table. A massive window appears at the center for everyone to see.

Faux AKA THE MURDERER

Ex Member of THE ARMY

Known Armaments:

Dagger, Shield, Throwing Knives

Known Home Base:

No set base of operations. Have been seen from the 2nd to the 48th floor. No pre set sleeping lounge.

Notes:

Very unorthodox fighter with guerilla warfare as preferred fighting style. Breaks the mold of typical dagger users, as he prefers a STR-AGI build over typical AGI-STR or pure AGI dagger builds. Though he prefers hit & run and guerilla tactics, fighting him in a straight up battle is ill advised.

For some reason, he controls a black mist that blocks all radar and visual functions.

Based on multiple information dealers, he possesses the highest kill count of 40-45 as of December 1, 2022

The room is silent. An understandable reaction, seeing how Czarina's info is disturbing, as it is accurate.

"Do you understand now Cactus head?" She says to Kibaou. "40-45 PKs by 1 individual is no joke. Any half baked attempt to catch him will only result in casualties on our side. That is the main reason my unit spends most of our time grinding like crazy. If we aren't as strong as the front liners, then he will turn us into floor mats, just like what he did to you and me a few months ago"

With the silent nod of approval by majority, the tense meeting ends.

After the meeting, Czarina heads for the empty plaza and sits on one of the benches.

Czarina drains a bottle of…..

"_Just what in gods name did I just drink?"_

It has the confusing taste of orange, grape, bubble gum, mint, pineapple, lemonade and apple all at the same time. Though one of her favorites, it is delicious and disgusting at the same time.

"Good work in there." A familiar female voice says, as she sits beside Czarina.

"Thanks Yulier."

"You seemed to enjoy putting Kibaou in his place."

"Beating down single celled organisms is one of the greatest pleasures in life. You should try it."

"I'll pass" Yulier replies with a smile. "Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you about something."

"Go ahead."

"You've been boasting that you'll catch Faux one of this days…. But when the time comes, can you really do it?"

The question catches Czarina off guard. Yulier is one of her closest friends, so it's no surprise she knows what Czarina truly feels about Faux. Never the less, Czarina steels her will and answers.

"Yes, I will. Even if I have to beat him within an inch of his life, I will capture Faux"

"I see…." Yulier smiles sadly. "I wish you good luck"

With a small wave, she stands and leaves.

"_Yulier…. If you knew the truth… the real me.… would you hated me?"_

-:-

Angelica Shiro Norton, or commonly known in SAO as Czarina The Empress, is not the most sociable person in the world, but she does have some deep ties with a select few. To maintain the most important of those ties (namely her family) she buried her darkest secret at the deepest corner of her heart.

"_This secret, which not even my family and friends knows about, is better off sealed in a box and thrown out to sea." _She said to herself

Of course, she originally never had such a secret, but past events leaves no other route for her.

Her entire childhood life was shaped by her condition, ALBINISM. With the lack of melanin in her body, she was forced to sit out the most enjoying activities to a child, such as soccer or swimming in the sea. And worse yet, she was also subjected to bullying when she entered school. The children called her a ghost, white lady, and Sadako just to name a few.

During those trying times, her brother Raph has always been there to protect her. Many times, he would go up against overwhelming numbers, and many times, he is beaten to a bloody pulp. Yet he keeps getting back up on his feat, and kept fighting.

At one point in middle school, Raph broke his leg when her bullies pushed him over the stairs. Instead of weakening Raph, the handicap made him much more ferocious as Ange's protector (crutches used as makeshift clubs are effective weapons)

To the young Ange, her brother was nothing short of a hero, her personal knight in shining armor. She exalted him to no end, constantly labeling him as the ideal older brother.

That should have been the limit of her affection, but a popular genre in Japan greatly twisted her admiration to something else. As a daughter of a closet otaku, Ange was exposed to the otaku culture at a very young age. Unlike her action/suspense/thriller/mecha/guns/sword loving father and brother, Ange is a fan of love stories. Her personal favorite (and the one that sent her over the deep edge) was the Yosuga No Sora anime. The idea of a sibling falling in love with her older brother shocked her, yet she cannot deny the similarities between her and the main heroine of the anime, Sora Kasugano. She initially dismissed the idea, but the seed has already been planted, and as the years went by, it grew into a large tree that can no longer be removed.

Angelica Shiro Norton loves Raphael Arisato Norton, not as a sibling, but as a lover.

She knows that her desires are incestuous in nature, but her feelings have become too intense for her to go back.

Unfortunately, when she was able understand her feelings, their interest has already drifted them apart. As a naturally beautiful girl, she became interested in fashion while her brother entered the realm of MMORPGs.

In a desperate attempt to maintain a connection between them, Ange reluctantly agreed to her brothers please and became Gino's (fake) girlfriend. Even the decision to play SAO stemmed from the same desperation.

And then, there was the SAO incident and the death of Gino/Gawain.

She always thought very little of him, considering him as more of a hindrance to her plan. Yet his death made her realize how important and fragile the bonds they shared. She also realized how much agony it would cause if those bonds were forcefully torn apart. She mourned and cried for him, yet she also steeled her will.

"_I must not lose Ani-sama! I WILL NOT lose him!"_

That is why she must get stronger.

Once she captures Faux, she will leave the guild and drag him to a hidden, monsterless, anti crystal forest/prison she and a few others discovered on the 7th floor. It is a maze where the only way out is through a portal that requires one person pressing on the glyph at the 7th floor, and another person doing the same on another hidden dungeon in the 31st floor . There, she will lock both of them in, then they will be together… forever.

-:-

48th floor LINDEARTH

Czarina listens to the sound of flowing water as she stands before a fairly big watermill. The Japanese people always thought that the sound of water has some sort of calming effect, something which Americans normally cant understand. As a half American- half Japanese, she can sort of understand, while remaining completely confused on the sound of water.

"_Seeing how the idea came from the land of seppuku, lolicons and otakus, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they are on the looney side"_

Suddenly, a thought dawned on her. Technically speaking, she is half Japanese. Does that make her half as looney?

"_Hm.. I cant really deny that, can I?"_ She ponders for a bit, then shrugs it off.

She enters the building connected to the watermill. The sight of thin and elegant weapons welcomed her, none of which suites her fighting style and taste. At the counter stands a girl with short pink hair, who was dealing with 3 men. At a glance, Czarina can tell that the men were trying to flirt with her, something the pink girl obviously did not like.

"_*sigh* this again?"_ Czarina sighs_. "I know customer service requires to her to deal with these lowlives…. But still…."_

Czarina walks up behind the men and says

"Get lost. You're holding up the line"

The 1 of the 3 men turns and says

"HUH?! Don't you know who we are?" the one on the right says arrogantly.

"No. Do you ever keep track of the names of the roaches you step on?" Czarina replies with equal or greater arrogance.

"Oi Aniki! This cute little girl doesn't seem t know her place!"

On cue, the large one on the center turns around menacingly.

"_Is this a low budget Yakuza film or something?"_ Czarina thought as she suppresses her laughter.

"Ho… you think you can just run your mouth on my boys, and expect to live?" He looks at Czarina menacingly.

"Why heavens no! I would never badmouth MEN. You, on the other hand, lack the testicles to be considered as such." Czarina replies with an arrogant smile.

With veins popping on their head, they draw their swords and display it menacingly. Unfortunately, the action was met by smile stating _Aw…. They trying to be scary. How Precious_

Czarina calls down her equipment menu, and a second later, the 3 jaws hit the floor. On her back rests a two handed sword….

No.

The sheer size and weight of the sword can no longer be considered as a two hand sword. The blade is 5 foot tall, 2 foot wide, half a foot thick, and is connected to a 3 foot long handle. It is so large, that the total height exceeds that of its owner.

All are silenced under the sword's commanding presence.

"ZWEIHANDER is 2 HANDED SWORD's bigger, badder cousin with a prison record." Czarina breaks the ice.

She lovingly strokes the sword, as if to show off its menacing appearance.

"Though it is easy to get, its weight and size makes it a very hard weapon to use, thus I'm probably the only one who uses it." Czarina twirls and removes the blade from her back, keeping the tip on the ground. "Its so heavy, that even a pure STR like myself becomes overweight just from equipping it. Not only that, its not possible to lift it more than 2 feet, straight up….. so….. I do this…."

She twirls, and by using the centrifugal force, the blade is slowly swung at 4 feet above the ground. With a red glow, the sword suddenly accelerates and connects with the ANIKI, blowing him into the wall. The entire shop shakes, as IMMORTAL OBJECT signs pop up all over the place.

"Aw…. I forgot… we're in town." Czarina says in a playful voice. "How about we step outside of town? There you will see just how much damage this thing can do."

The 3 pauses for a second, then bolts out the door.

"*sigh* Did you really need to do that?" The pink haired shopkeeper says.

"Fu fu fu. Of course it is, Lisbeth. The only way to train street rabble like them is to smack them a couple of times. " Czarina replies.

"…. You're a sadist, arent you"

"Yup! Im proud of it too!"

Czarina has been a regular customer of Lisbeth for 6 months, due to a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Lisbeth is a girl, thus she does not try to flirt with Czarina when she goes for her regular maintenance. Second, because they are both girls, they can engage in girly talks. Girls love their gossip, after all.

"So… Where's our defacto leader?" Czarina asks, while she watches Lisbeth performs maintenance on her zweihander, GRAY KNIGHT.

"Hmm…. I think she mentioned about an emergency meeting between the leaders of the front line guilds. Now that I think about it…. Shouldn't you be there as well?" Lisbeth replies without looking back.

"Though I'm one of the few from THE ARMY who is still active in the front lines, I don't have a unit to lead. In the front lines, I am only a regular foot soldier. They'll call me when they need me"

"Hm…. I see… Well then, lets talk about something more interesting." Lisbeth says, as she smacks the zweihander with a hammer." Hows that guy you're chasing? Any new development?"

"*sigh*….. no new development." Says the depressed Czarina

"ho ho ho! Do tell" Lisbeth replies with great interest.

The two began gossiping about things only girls would understand. The topic ranges from love, fashion, who is the biggest bitch in the front lines, etc, etc, etc.

An hour passes without them knowing it….. How they do it, is beyond a man's understanding.

Suddenly, the door swings open, and a girl with long chestnut hair rushes in.

"I'm so sorry for being late!" She said as she stops in front of Czarina.

"Ho… Asuna AKA The Flash. A person that led the frontlines with an iron fist…. Is tardy? What kind of sorcery is this?" Czarina flashes a sadistic smile.

Asuna bows low in reply.

"I'm truly sorry! Something unusual happened, so most of the leaders went out to investigate."

"Something unusual?" Lisbeth asks.

Czarina shares Lisbeth's curiosity, and awaits Asuna's next words.

"Yes…. This is a report from the scouts that we sent to find the boss room." Asuna takes out a short piece of paper and places it on the table.

Approximately 3:40 AM- Under the orders of the KNIGHTS OF THE BLOOD, the 5 man guild EXPLORERS conducted their routine mapping of the boss dungeon.

Approximately 4:20 AM- The EXLPORERS encountered an 18 man PK Party. The PKs debated amongst themselves, weather to kill off the EXPLORERS or not. From what their conversation, the PKs party was originally a 20 man party, tasked to hunt down a certain PKK.

At their first encounter, the PKK was able to kill 2 of them before running away.

The PKs decided to spare the EXPLORERS, simply because they wanted to be in the best condition when they face the PKK again.

After being released, the EXLPORERS made sure to avoid the PKs during their mapping.

Approximately 4:35 AM- The EXPLORERS stumbled on the boss room. They took a quick peek at the boss (CYCLOPES CHAMPION) and decided to head back to inform the KOB. To avoid the PK party, they used their teleport crystals.

Approximately 5:45 AM- They returned to the boss room along with 5 KOB members to scout out the boss. To their surprise, the boss can no longer be found, a clear sign that it was defeated.

"Until now, no one has claimed responsibility for killing the boss" Asuna said in a serious voice.

"I see….. Then why where you late?" Lisbeth asks

"About that….. Around 7:00 AM we waited in front of the Teleporter, hoping that the group who cleared the 49th would open the way to the next floor." Asuna sighs while rubbing her forehead. "Unfortunately, they didn't. So we had no choice but to climb up the dungeon and open the next floor ourselves, though I decided to skip out, seeing how I'm late for our party."

"hmmm….. this group doesn't want to be known huh?" Czarina says

"Yeah… the leaders think so too" Asuna replies.

"Eh? Why would they not want to get known? Floor clearing is a ticket to instant stardom, after all." Lisbeth asks

Czarina ponders for a bit then answers.

"I can think of a few reasons why. They might be PKs, thus keeping their location a secret is a must. They may want to monopolize the hunting spots, thus not activating the teleporter. Either way, they don't want anyone to know who they are."

"It could be one of the front liners, you know?" Lisbeth says. "They probably wanted the drops for themselves."

"That's true…. But the front line is a small and very tight knit community. Nearly everyone in the lead group has atleast one person per guild in his/her friendlist. An attempt like that wont go unnoticed. Besides, no one wants to die, that's why everyone in the lead group works together, to keep the casualty as close to zero as possible." Asuna answers

Silence reigns, as the girls theorize as to the identity of the floor clearer. After a few seconds, Czarina speaks up.

"Well…. We can go to an information dealer. They seem to know everything that's happening…. Though it might cost us."

"Hmm… we could do that." Asuna replies. "Though paying for the info kinda hurts my budget."

"Just so you know, Im not going to pay for that!" Lisbeth says with passion.

"Cant you ask your higher ups for some money?" Czarina asks Asuna

"I could…. But no promises. Besides…. Where can we find an info dealer who knows what happened?"

Czarina thinks for a bit, then replies

"I know one who might…. "

-:-

As the leader of the PK suppression group, Czarina has formed contacts with many of the info dealers in order to keep tabs on her targets. With financial backing from THE ARMY, she has access to all the info she needs. Unfortunately, her requests has to pass through Yulier's strict supervision, thus she can't get any financial support when it isn't related to PK hunting.

Asuna's guild also refused to finance them. But to their surprise, the leader of the KOB met them personally and handed 5 million gold for the info. He stated that, though the guild is not allowed to shell out cash for the info, Heathcliff himself is curious about the group that cleared the 49th floor. He is willing to use his own pocket money just to get the info. He wanted to meet the info dealer himself, but he had more pressing matters to deal with, thus he left as quickly as he came.

"_Well… it worked out in the end."_ Czarina thought as she took a sip of her…. _"I've been drinking this stuff for half a month now… and I still don't know what it's has called?"_

The trio waits for Czarina's info dealer in a restaurant near Lisbeth's shop. They didn't wait long, as Czarina spots a petite hooded figure entering the restaurant. She waves at her and beacons her over.

"Well… this is an interesting combination." The hooded girl with whiskers says."THE ARMY's Czarina THE EMPRESS, KOB's Asuna THE FLASH, and Lisbeth, one of the top blacksmiths in SAO. All in one table…. Hmm… looks like I'm about to strike gold. Nihihihi"

The 2 of the 3 looks at the hooded figure in shock. Lisbeth breaks the silence first.

"Wait wait wait! I can understand that you know about Asuna, but how in gods name did you know about me?!"

"I'm an info dealer. Its my job to know. By the way, my name is Argo. Nice to meet ya" Argo takes a seat.

"Nice to meet you… THAT'S NOT IT!" Lisbeth exclaims. "HOW in gods name did you get those info about me?! And don't give me that _Coz I'm an info dealer_ crap!"

"That's 10k gold" Argo replies while extending her hand to accept payment

"You….!" Lisbeth's face twists in annoyance

"Calm down Lis. She wont budge an inch, unless you pay in cash" Czarina grabs Lisbeth by the shoulder." Besides, pretty girls become famous regardless of their will. You're bound to have a stalker or two. You'll get used to it…. eventually"

"Tch… kill joy" says a displeased Argo replies.

On the other hand, Lisbeth is aching to smack Argo with her mace.

"A-anyways, let's get to the point" Asuna injects. She faces Argo seriously. "Argo-san, do you know anything about the group that cleared the 49th floor?"

Silence descends. After a few seconds, Argo speaks.

"4 million gold" Argo says in a serious voice.

"W-wow… isn't that a bit expensive? None of the info you sold me amounted to that much. The most expensive one was about 200K" Czarina replies

"This incident is a very sensitive matter. Besides, I doubt that anyone else has the info I have"

"Ho… how do we know that you're not gonna screw us over" Lisbeth says aggressively.

Argo meets her aggressiveness with a silent yet serious face, causing Lisbeth to falter. After a second of intense silence, Argo returns her attention back to Asuna.

"4 million gold. I refuse to say another word" Argo leans on her, clearly having no intention to talk.

Asuna opens a trade and enters 4 million gold, then clicks OK.

To their surprise, Argo cancels the trade.

"Good. You have the money. Take me to a place where no one, other than you 3, is present. Make sure that it's a place where no one can eavesdrop on our conversation. You can pay me there." Argo stands and begins to leave.

The realization finally hits the trio, as they watch Argo walk out the restaurant.

"_This looks serious….. Just what happened on the 49__th__ boss?"_

-:-

Argo, Asuna and Czarina wait amongst the smith equipment, as Lisbeth closes her shop early. With the front door and the workshop door between them and the outside world, even a person with a mastery in LISTENING cant eavesdrop on them. A few moments later, the workshop door opens and Lisbeth descends the stairs.

"Lets begin." Argo says. "But first, 4 million please"

"*sigh* You're such a greedy little rat." Czarina says.

"But of course. Being a penny pincher is must if you want to survive in the info business" Argo replies.

Asuna trades the 4 million gold, making Argo a very happy rat.

"Alright, down to business." Argo clears her throat. "I assume you girls know the initial reports?"

The 3 nods.

"That makes things easier. Well then…. Hmm… I guess I'll just drop the biggest bomb first. There was never a boss clearing party." Argo says, which was met by silence.

"err…. I don't get it. Care to elaborate?" Czarina says.

Argo takes a deep breath, then closes her eyes. A second later, she opens them, as if steeling her will for something.

The action confuses the trio.

"Here it goes" Argo says to herself, then she speaks to the 3. "The 49th boss was killed by one person."

Once again, silence. A few seconds later, Czarina speaks up.

"Argo, do you take us for a bunch of retards?!" Czarina rubs her forehead in annoyance. "Beating a boss in a one on one battle is impossible! Why do you think all the frontline guilds have meetings every now and then?!"

"Calm down Ciz-chan" Asuna raises her hand to stop the conversation. "Argo, I assume that you have proof of your claims?"

"Ofcourse, but I need you to answer a few questions to prove my claims. Is that alright, Asuna?"

Asuna nods.

"Alright. First question. Aren't you suppose to be part of the group that went up to open the teleporter?"

"Yes, but I had a prior engagement with Lisbeth and Czarina, so I passed." Asuna replies. "They should probably be there by now."

"I see, I see. So that means that, aside from the group that went on ahead, no one has ever set foot on the new town. Correct?"

Asuna nods.

"Well then, Asuna. I want you to ask someone from the advance group. _WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE TOWN?"_ Argo says

Asuna nods and sends a PM. A second later, an answer arrives.

"They are still about 5 minutes away from town." Asuna reports

"Then we will wait." Argo replies. "Oh, by the way…. The name of the new town is ALGADE"

True enough, the answer came a few minutes later.

"No way…. " Asuna looks at Argo in disbelief." But how?"

"Nihihihi. How did I know? I have to tell you a short story if you don't mind"

The 3 gestures her to go on.

Argo begins her fairly short story.

Around 6 AM, she decided to mail all of her clients on the status of the jobs they hired her to do. One of them, she calls him client A, is residing at an unfamiliar town of ALGADE. Just to be sure, Argo researched all the names of the towns in all floors, yet none of them were named ALGADE. She also checked the locations of all of her frontline clients, only to find that all of them were still in MYUGEN of the 49th floor.

A theory assembles itself on her mind, but seeing how her theory needed an impossible feat to be performed, she decides to shelf it.

But then, there was the KOB scout report. And all the pieces fell into place

_Massive PK party just to hunt one PKK down…._

_The 49__th__ floor was beaten before the lead group could organize…._

_Client A is in a town that no one has been to…._

There are only a handful of PKK's that could warrant a full PK hunt. Probably 3 at most.

There was also only 1 PKK present during the SOB's report.

Absurd as it may… Argo cant help but accept her theory.

Client A, a powerful PKK, was targeted by a 20 man PK party. But no matter how good he is, Client A cannot face 20 men and expect to win, thus he ran while taking a couple of them in the process. In a desperate attempt to escape, Client A entered the boss room. The PK's that chased him did not pursue, thinking that the boss will surely do him in. Thus the PK's left.

Argo assumed that Client A would rather face a boss on a 1 vs 1 battle, rather than take 20 at the same time. Though she was able to guess the WHY, the HOW escapes her.

"The guy does a lot of crazy stuff anyways, so I wouldn't be surprised if he has some tricks up his sleeve." Argo shrugs. "Wish he would tell me though…. But no amount of gold can tempt the bastard."

"That cant be…." Asuna replies in disbelief

"But it is Asuna. But it is. I don't care if you believe it or not, just remember that all of my evidences are out in the open. What you do with this info is up to you." Argo rises and heads for the exit.

"Before you go, can I ask something?" Czarina says.

Argo stops and turns. "Sure, go ahead."

"What is CLIENT A's name?"

Argo ponders for a bit, then replies.

"Well… that is part of the info you paid for…. Oh well." Argo shrugs. "You should know him Ciz. He used to be a part of your guild"

Czarina gasps in shock. "No way…."

"Who is it Ciz?" Lisbeth asks, but she gets nothing as Czarina is still at a state of shock.

Argo snickers, then answers Lisbeth.

"He is a former member of THE ARMY, and is the current holder of the highest PK count. He is THE MURDERER, Faux"

-:-

45th Floor

Jungle of the Apes

-:-

The air is shook asunder as steel is driven into another. Normally, such scenes involve a player blocking a blow from a powerful monster, but Czarina was never the one who would comply, especially if she didn't want to.

The GORILLA MYRMIDON desperately keeps its balance after taking Czarina's blow. Unfortunately for it, Czarina has always had an exceedingly violent disposition in battle. She twirls faster, returning the GRAY KNIGHT to 4' above the ground. The blade glows red, then a second later, it quickly accelerates into a horizontal slash

"HA!"

Czaria roars as she executes her favorite sword skill RAVAGING HORIZONTAL, catching the monster in the midsection. The monster was able to block the sword, but the sheer amounts of weight and power takes little notice of the attempt, cleaving the monster in half.

This is a testament to the monstrous of the ZWEIHANDER class weapons. Ofcourse, the IRL version of the ZWEIHANDER is not as exaggerated as the ones in SAO, but it does share the length of the IRL versions. Closer to a POLEARM type weapon, the ZWEIHANDER can no longer placed inside a sheath, thus must be carried over the shoulder.

Despite being readily available to everyone that raises 2 HANDED SWORDS to a certain level, it remains unpopular due to its insane weight, thus dubbed by most as an impractical weapon. Like the genius as she is, Czarina was able to create a fighting style based on using her body as a fulcrum and the centrifugal force generated by twirling, thus allowing her to use the impractical weapon with ease.

As the only user of the ZWEIHANDER, she fully aware of the 2 advantages of the weapon.

1st, it has every advantage of a 2 HAND SWORD, though everything is pushed to ridiculous extremes.

2nd, much to her surprise, the large width of the sword actually works well as a shield. By positioning herself sideways while staying behind the sword, the sword turns into a half foot thick armor plating.

Like what Czarina stated earlier, the ZWEIHANDER truly is the 2 HANDED SWORD's bigger, badder cousin with a prison record.

Suddenly, she felt a blow to her back, causing her to stumble a bit, but as expected of a wielder of heavy armor, the damage was measly 2%. Behind her, another GORILLA MYRMIDON readies to take another shot at her.

"_Not on my watch!"_

Czarina moves forward, escaping the blow with 1% damage. She keeps low and pulls her sword over her, making sure that its in an angle, which blocks a rising strike from the monster.

"_Gotcha!"_

She performs one of Faux's very subtle, yet very efficient OSS, SLOPING ARMOR. The idea is surprisingly simple. By tilting a solid surface about 45 degrees or so, an incoming projectile will be forced to go through significantly more material compared to when it is standing up right. But more importantly, there is a chance that the incoming strike will simply slide right off, which is exactly what is happening right now.

Instead of a loud crash, the GORILA's sword slides harmlessly against her GRAY KNIGHT, which also makes the monster lose its balance. Czarina swings her sword in a similar fashion to a shoulder throw, hurling the massive sword at the monkey's unprotected back, killing it without using sword skills.

"_phew…. That takes care of the 23__rd__ monkey…"_

Near her current location, Asuna is finishing her 26th monkey with a blinding array of sword thrusts.

"_Wow… she truly is THE FLASH"_

Despite being friends, the two of them represents the opposite extremes of the SAO players.

The near pure AGI Asuna uses an overwhelming barrage of weak yet precise strikes to take down an opponent (NOTE: In Czarina's point of view, Asuna's strikes are very weak). For defense, Asuna uses her speed to dodge any incoming strikes, which makes up for her lack of armor.

On the other hand, Czarina sacrifices attack speed for massive burst damage. For defense, she wears the toughest and heaviest plate armors to increase her damage reduction. Aside from her lack of shield, her equipment is nearly similar to a tank.

"Nice work you two. We make a pretty good team don't we?" Lisbeth says happily, as she pokes out of the corner where she has been hiding.

"*sigh* Says the girl who did nothing" Czarina replies sarcasticly

"Now now, don't be like that Ciz" Asuna playfully tells her off. "She does do a good job repairing our equipment"

"Yeah yeah." Czarina replies. She turns to Lisbeth. "We're sacrificing a day on the frontlines just so we can LEECH you. You better be grateful"

Lisbeth kneels on one knee and replies.

"Oh humble and kind Czarina, I am forever grateful to have you as a friend" Lisbeth sarcastically replies

"… For some reason, you piss me off…."

The 3 laughs as they decided to return home.

Once a week, Czarina and Asuna leaves the front line to LEECH Lisbeth. LEECH is similar to POWER LEVELING, where the 2 stronger players help the weaker one level up. The main difference is that 2 stronger players will do all the work, while the weaker one hides and hope that she isn't targeted by the monsters.

As a support player, Lisbeth lacks many skills that are essential for her survival, hampering her leveling capabilities. Never the less, leveling up is required to unlock the all important skill slots, thus she has no choice to risk it. As good friends and regular customers of Lisbeth, the 2 frontliners help her in a regular basis.

The 45th floor is perfect for their LEECHING party because of 1 thing. There are places where the respawn rate is abnormally high, thus instead of hunting high exp yet dangerous mobs, they went for low exp yet very easy mobs. Indeed, their exp gained is slower than the front line, but it is a good way for Lisbeth to get high exp without getting killed.

"_Killing a boss all by yourself? Just how far ahead are you, ani-sama?"_ Czarina contemplates as they trek back to town.

A few minutes later

"Hey… can you hear that?" Lisbeth suddenly says, bringing Czarina back to reality.

The trio stops. Czarina strains her ears and after a second of silence. An unnatural ratting echoes throughout the forest.

"Chains?" Asuna says

Indeed, the rattling is similar to fast moving chains. There was also the occasional THUMP, as if something heavy was hitting the ground at full force. In the silent yet vibrant forest, the rattling of chains changes the mood into one normally finds in horror films.

And worse yet…

"I-is it just me, or is the sound getting closer…" Lisbeth says with a hint of fear.

Czarina equips her GRAY KNIGHT. "Ladies…. Better get ready… just in case.."

The two does the same. They stand with their backs to each other, making sure that they have no blind spots. After a few seconds of intense silence….

Two young male voices are heard from where Lisbeth is facing. The 3 faces shifts to that direction with arms at the ready. They see 2 boys, aging somewhere between 11- 14, running towards them as if their lives depended on it.

They also notice one important thing, both are orange players. But that doesn't really register to the 3. What registers to them was the boys face….. it was the face of pure fear.

"HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE! SAVE ME!"

The 3 lowers their guard a bit, until one of the 2 suddenly trips. Due to the thick vegetation, the 3 couldn't see it, but something was latched to the boy's leg.

"He got me! Cyle help me! Please!" The child reaches out for help.

The boy named Cyle scrambles to grab his partners hand, but without warning, his partner was pulled from behind.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screams as he disappears from sight.

There was silence. A second later, the chains began to rattle once again.

"Hiiii!" Cyle turns and runs toward the 3 and hugs Lisbeth by waist. "Please! Save me! I'll never do it again! I don't want die!"

"W-wait calm down kid" Lisbeth replies.

The chains rattle louder as the source of the sound gets closer. The three positions themselves to defend the boy, vigilantly looking for any signs of movement in their surroundings.

The chains suddenly stops rattling, and an oppressive silence follows.

The boy couldn't take it anymore. He abandons the girls and runs for his life.

"I'm scared! This is scary! This isn't fun! I don't want this anymore!" He screams hysterically.

"Damn it! Get back here you brat! Its not safe!" Czarina yells as she tries to give chase. Unfortunately, the GRAY KNIGHT was weighing her down, thus she is unable to catch the boy.

The boy seemed to be a pure AGI type based on how the distance widened between them.

"Asuna!" Czarina yells in desperation.

"Got it!" Asuna shoots past Czarina and slowly reduces the gap.

But it was too late.

From above, a white hooded player lands violently on Cyle, taking 20% of the boys HP in the process. He pins the boy to the ground and draws his dagger.

"Please! I'm sorry! I wont PK ever again! I promise!" Cyle begs.

The hooded figure raises his dagger, and in an emotionless voice, he replies.

"Yeah…. I'm sure you wont"

He stabs the boy in the head, then he cuts the boy from head to groin. The girls can only watch in horror as the boy disintegrates into a blue flame. The person that killed the boy rises and faces them.

He took of his hood and non-chalantly greets them. "Good afternoon. Glad to see you again Czarina. Thank you for looking out for her, KOB's Asuna and…. Well I don't know you, but thanks anyways. She has a bit of a foul mouth but she's a good person on the inside. Please continue to keep her safe."

"Ah… You're welcome" Asuna bows." THAT'S NOT IT!"

"Whats not it?" The man replies.

"You…. Don't you know what you have done?"

"I just killed 2 PKers. What about it?"

"THEY WERE CHILDREN!"

The PKK looks at Asuna in confusion. "….. So?"

"They didn't know what they were doing! You could have just told them off!"

"Yeah….When I first met them, I thought that would work too. Unfortunately, I just caught them performing their 3rd PK." The PKK shrugs." No matter what, kids just don't listen. Its better to reprimand them in a kind and precise manner"

"KIND?! You just killed them outright!"

"Trust me… The other PKKs torture their prey before they kill them. Compared to that, I'm probably the kindest PKK you'll ever meet"

"That doesn't justify anything! Nothing justifies taking a life!" Asuna roars, but the PKK smiles softly.

"Crimes are punished, one way or another. It matters not ones age, gender, nationality or reason. One way or another, all will pay for their trespasses. No exemptions."

"Arent you a hypocite?" Asuna replies. "Arent you performing the same crimes as the ones you kill?"

But once again, PKK smiles softly." I don't like repeating myself"

"ENOUGH!" Czarina suddenly yells. She readies her sword. "I don't give a damn what your reasons are! As the head of the PK Suppression group, I place you under arrest Faux!"

Asuna's face drains of color. _"THAT Faux?! The PKK with the highest kill kill count?!"_

"Are you sure about that Czarina?" Faux replies. He sheaths his dagger and places his empty right behind his round shield."I assume that you heard about the 49th floor right?"

Czarina shifts her weight uncomfortably.

Faux laughs heartily. "Man… new sure travel fast.. I need to properly reprimand Argo later. Anyways, heres a question. How do you beat down a boss single handedly?"

A tense silence follows. Then Asuna breaks the silence.

"A unique skill?"

"Hehehe. Bingo" Faux replies, while shifting his shield." But ofcourse, theres also strategy, tactics and a hell lot of uncertain factors mixed in there, but a unique skill does help tip the balance a bit."

The Asuna and Czarina become increasingly nervous. It's a natural reaction, seeing how they are in a presence of a true monster.

"Well then, heres a another question." Faux continues. "Which is harder to beat, 1 floor boss or….3 ordinary players"

Bloodlust fills the air.

Czarina instantly feels like there is a blade touching her neck, ready to slice her open. Besides her, it seems Asuna is also experiencing the same thing.

Unable to move, the 2 can only maintain an uneasy standoff.

But then, Lisbeth speaks."What you said earlier…. About criminal paying for their crimes… about having no exemptions"

"Yeah? What about it?" Faux asks

"Does that mean, you're not exempted? You don't expect to live through SAO… don't you?" Lisbeth says

Faux is taken by surprise, but then he smiles amusingly.

"TELEPORT: ALGADE"

Faux disappears within the blue visuals.

The 3 stares at the place where Faux once stood.

.

.

.

"HE PLAYED US!" Czarina screams in frustration. "OF ALL THE UNDERHANDED TRICKS! WE HAD TO FALL FOR THAT ONE?!"

"hehehe. He was probably accessing his inventory when we were having that debate" Asuna replies. "Well, lets be glad that we didn't have to fight him. I doubt we could take him anyway."

After a few seconds of kicking the ground in frustration, Czarina calms down.

"I'm sure that he'll be at the 50th floor boss raid. I'll get him there."


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

THE DEVIL

-:-

20th floor SUNSHINE FOREST

-:-

"Comrade….. what are your thoughts on love?"

Faux double takes. _"Le wut?"_

Beside him sat a big Russian man who survived many life threatening situation IRL…. And his asking about LOVE?!

"Err…. Andrei?... where the hell did that come from?" Faux asks in confusion

Andrei silently stares at the distance, then turns his attention back to Faux.

"Humor me for a bit. Let us say there's a person, Person A, who fell in love with a man named Person B…." Andrei says with a serious voice.

"_Ahh… it's the typical _**not wanting to refer to himself, so he calls himself PERSON A**_**."**_Faux thought._"I guess even the toughest man has a soft si-…. Hold on…. Did he just say a MAN named PERSON B?!"_

"Stop stop stop! I don't think I'm the right person to ask about that type of topic!"

"Why not?! Please comrade! I have no one else to turn to!"

"I appreciate your trust and all, but I don't have any experience about those things! I don't swing that way!"

Andrei pauses for a second.

"What is the connection of our topic to homosexuality?!" Andrei roars

This time, Faux pauses.

"Its not?"

"It is NOT! How in Saint Nicholas' name did you arrive in that conclusion?!"

"That would be your fault. When someone hides someone behind the name PERSON A, they normally talk about themselves" Faux replies.

Andrei reflects on what he said. "Ahh… I see… that is the normal use of the phrase…"

A second later, Andrei strangles Faux. "YOU DARE QUESTION MY MANHOOD?!"

"Blame your crappy sentence construction!"

"STOP SQUIRMING SO I CAN STRANGLE YOU BETTER! NO ONE INSULTS MY PRIDE AND LIVES!"

"Screw your pride! Who in gods name asks about LOVE at a time like this?!"

True enough, they were the only noisy bunch amongst the ones currently gathered. 8 hooded figures silently stood near the trees, waiting for the start of their meeting.

Excluding Andrei, all of the ones gathered in the peaceful meadow are the top PKK's of SAO. And amongst the 8, 3 holds a silent yet overwhelming authority over the others.

Those are…

#3. Medium Armor, Offense Type, UNIQUE SKILL USER, Scythe user TYRANT. Kill count- 22

#2. Heavy Armor, Tank type, One hand Axe and shield user LINCON. Kill count- 29

And of course

#1. No Armor, Assassin Type, UNIQUE SKILL USER(?),Dagger and Shield user FAUX. Kill count- 44

Normally, the others would tell off the noisy ones to STFU, but who would dare silence the strongest PKK?

People might ask "_Why are the bloodiest PKKs gathered in a place called SUNSHINE FOREST?"_

The answer is taken from a simple philosophy. _**The best place to hide something is where everyone least expects to find it.**_ No one would expect to find the most blood thirsty players in SAO in one of the most beautiful places in the game.

"That's enough you two" A man says, as he and 20 others enter the clearing. "Our meeting is about to begin."

20 of the new comers wore dark gray armor with an "I" as their emblem. They are the members of the INQUISITION, a weak-mediocre non-front line guild and the only guild that was made specifically for tracking PKs. Officially, they are only a 25 man guild, but if you count the other non PKKs supporting them (blacksmiths, information dealers, spies of all levels in different floors) they could easily be around 300.

At the center of it all was the businessman-like spear wielder, LaCroix Kill count- 1

Faux also spots an uncommon face, his regular leveling partner and the only female in the meeting, ARGO the rat. Argo approaches them.

"Yo! This is the first time I've seen you in the PKK meetings. Whats up?" Faux asks

"LaCroix paid me, so here I am." Argo turns to Andrei with a face full of expectation. "So…..?"

Andrei shrugs. "Sorry Argo, we were interrupted before I could ask"

Argo sighs. "No…. its fine…. Theres always next time"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Faux asks.

Argo silently stares at him for a second, then takes a seat on the grass. "Its…. Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Hm…. Weird girl" Faux shrugs, then sits beside her.

"Ahem…. Let us begin the meeting" LaCroix says with his usual businessman-like voice. "As all of you might know, PKing has been on the rise as of late. Disturbing reports show that the number of PKers have risen to triple digits, effectively dwarfing us in terms of numbers."

In short, they have their work cut out for them. But ofcourse, LaCroix is saving the best bad news for last.

"And worse yet, disturbing rumors have stated that our aggressive efforts to suppress them may….. have had a horrible effect. The PKs have formed a guild…. Its name is LAUGHING COFFIN"

Silence met the news.

For the 2 first timers (Argo and Andrei), the news is as bad as it gets. A PK was already a pain to deal with. An entire guild filled of them would be a nightmare. But the two only need to look around them to see which side was more dangerous.

Smile.

Every PKK present are smiling.

And not just any smile…. It was a smile so corrupt, so full of evil glee, that the 2 may have thought that they may be supporting the wrong side.

Even the ever calm LaCroix was showing the same twisted smile.

Faux feels a small tug on his sleeve. It was fearful looking Argo. "Faux…. W-why are you all smiling?"

Behind Argo, Andrei also looked at him for answers. Unlike Argo, Andrei is considerably calm, though given his profession IRL, it is only natural.

Faux pats Argo in the head. "I assume that you thought of a PK guild as a disaster for us, correct?"

Argo nods

"Though true… an organized enemy is harder to beat down than a splintered group. However, there is also a down side to an organization."

"And that is?"

"An organization is both a shield and a death trap. A chain of command allows quick information sharing and efficient personnel management. On the other hand, if you disturb one part of the chain, it is sure to affect the rest. By destroying that chain, the entire organization will collapse."

Argo scratches her head in confusion. "I don't get it… Whats your point?"

"The point is simple. Just like us PKKs, they have to gather at some point and share info amongst each other. If you make one part of the chain fear you, you make everyone else do the same."

"But still… an organized enemy is very dangerous, yes?"Andrei asks. "I see no reason for your happiness"

As if listening to their conversation, LaCroix answers. "Rejoice my friends, our prey has became much more abundant. Nothing is more satisfying than watching a powerful prey squirm in agony."

Faux silently watches in amusement as the realization hits Argo and Andrei.

**These people don't want justice, they want vengeance.**

-:-

The meeting proceeded as usual.

Under LaCroix's orders, Argo gave everyone a copy of a detailed report of the current known PKs. This included their fighting style, current home base and even their gender orientation. This alone was the main reason why the PKKs would gather here.

LaCroix also gave the usual summary of what has happened since their last meeting 2 weeks ago. The summary normally comprises of the usual _who-killed-who_, along with other major events that are worth taking note of.

And of course, THAT incident is something note worthy.

"8 days ago, the 49th floor was cleared, but an interesting rumor has circulated." LaCroix looks at Faux. "Apparently, it was cleared by only one person. Do you know about this Faux?"

Faux can feel all eyes focusing on him.

"_Argo…. You are SO gonna get it later."_ Faux thought after throwing a quick glare at Argo.

"Yeah I heard about it a couple of times. What about it?" Faux replies

LaCroix stares at him seriously. "According to the rumors, you were the one who pulled it off"

"And here I thought you had some brains in that head of yours. Beating a floor boss alone IS IMPOSSIBLE. I suggest you get your facts straight LaCroix. Rumors tend to be exaggerated."

Ofcourse, LaCroix doesn't buy it.

"Come now Faux. Our society has been around… how long has it been? 3-4 months? Surely you can trust us." LaCroix says, clearly using comradery to get some answers.

A smart tactic. But he misunderstands one thing…..

"HAHAHAHAHAHA" Faux laughs maniacally."Trust?! That's a good one! Are we a bible study group now? "

LaCroix face becomes stone cold.

Entertained as he is, Faux continues. "LaCroix, I never trusted the INQUISITION, or any other PKKs. I'm sure everyone else feels the same. I, especially, don't trust anyone with the letter X in their name. Hell! I'm sure YOU feel the same way. For all we know, someone here could be gathering info for the PKs!"

Everyone stayed silent. No one denied it, simply because it was the truth.

Faux continues. "Everyone is using each other for our own personal agenda. I came to this meeting because you guys give out free info. I'm pretty sure you give out free info because none of you have the stomach to kill."

The members of the INQUISITION shift uncomfortably.

True enough, as rich support classes, majority of them have 0 kill counts. Add the fact that all of them are too weak to survive the front lines, it is only natural for them to use the only way they know how to fight….. through connections and information gathering.

To simply put it, though weak in will and strength, the INQUISITION desire for vengeance is great.

"Listen and listen well LaCroix. As long as you provide me with reliable information and not rat me out, I'll do your dirty work. Dont be chums with me, just give me the cold hard facts."Faux draws his dagger and points it at LaCroix."And if you betray me, you and your entire guild will understand that my 44 kill count is not just for show."

The atmosphere becomes tense as the PKKs stand and draw their weapons. This is not aimed at anyone specifically (though most of them are especially cautious of Faux), but it acts as a sign that none of them trusted anyone.

Since everyone present are all green players, any provocative action will turn the calm sunshine meadows into a battlefield.

But never the less, LaCroix smiles. "I see… very good Faux, very good. I'm glad to see we are on the same page. Well then, lets end our meeting here before this turns into a bloodbath."

With that, the meeting ends without anyone ripping someones throat out.

In short, it went exceedingly well.

-:-

20th Floor, MERUMI

Faux, Andrei and a hoodless Argo sits in a café on the town of MERUMI. As usual, Faux takes a large chunk of his egg pie and shoves it down his throat.

"Oh yeah…. That hits the spot…." Faux reclines on his chair, while basking in the sweet diabetic goodness.

On the other hand, his companions did not share his carefree attitude.

Argo speaks in a worried voice. "Faux…. I cant comprehend how you could keep your cool after a meeting like that…"

"Its all thanks to the power of the egg pie. Nothing puts me in a good mood more effectively than egg pie"

"IM SERIOUS HERE!" Argo slams the table." Back then, those guys were seriously considering killing you! Do you understand how worried I was?!"

Tears form in her eyes, a clear sign that she is very serious.

"S-sorry…" Faux replies

Argo rushes to Faux and buries her face in her chest. She lightly hits him a couple of times.

"S-shut *sniff* up you bastard! If you died, I don't know what to do *hic*"

"Argo…." Faux can offer her nothing but a light pat in the head.

"I-if you died…. I don't know if I can find another cash cow!"

SILENCE

"_Poor guy…."_ Thought the bystanders who just happened to see what happened.

Their stares burn.

"well….. that's a spirit breaker…." Faux said as his self worth drops into the negative values.

Andrei can only offer a silent pat on the shoulder.

For the next 5 minutes, Faux's face never left the table.

"O-oy…. Faux. You know I was joking, right?" Argo says, clearly feeling guilty.

"Yeah…. I knew it was a joke…. A painfully cruel and ego shattering joke… A joke so mind breaking, I doubt I'll ever recover…." Faux laughs dryly."I knew you still held a grudge when I threw you off ELMAC…. No. Its not your fault. Its my fault for expecting a love-comedy type of situation. Don't worry about it. Give me a few nights of crying and I'll be good as new….*sob*"

"Like I said, it was just a joke! Im sorry!" Argo turns her attention to Andrei."Will you stop looking at me like that!"

"Toying with an innocent person's heart…. I've seen a lot of torture in my life, but the ones aimed at the heart are the cruelest." Said Andrei

"IM SORRY ALREADY! Damn it! Anyways, I have a bit of info that will definitely get your attention, so suck it up and listen" Argo says

"It better be a good one…. A young man's heart is not an easy thing to repair" Faux replied, still faced first on the table.

Argo takes a small white envelope out of her inventory and slides it over to Faux. "Trust me. This one is definitely something you should take great interest in."

Faux opens the envelope and reads the letter.

Dear Faux

I humbly invite you to my tea party in two days time, mid day. I, as host, will be providing our meal, thus I would be thankful if you grace me with your presence.

The venue of our rendezvous will be at the place we first met.

I look forward to seeing you again.

Sincerely yours,

Flandre

As Argo advertised, the letter got his attention.

"Where did you get this?" Faux said. Despite his voice lacking any emotions, everyone can feel the killing intent seething from his words.

"Three days ago, DANIEL, a wanabe info dealer, gave it to me. The sender paid him 10K gold to ensure that the message was to be given to me. He also said that the sender promised another 10k gold when the job is done" Argo replies.

"…..And where is this DANIEL person?" Faux asks

Argo stares at Faux for a second."He died…. Based on the Monument of Life, DANIEL died fighting a mob on 50th floor. Us info dealers are normally weaker than most players, that's why we tend to avoid the frontlines. I wouldn't even survive if you weren't there to help me out. My guess is, DANIEL was portal PKed."

"Ho…. I see." Faux smiles

"You don't sound surprised"

"Naturally. Anyone who deals with the PKs is dancing with death. Be it friend or foe, frontline or support, everyone in the PK world will die. The only question is when."

"Comrade…. You make it sound like you don't expect to live long" Andrei says teasingly.

"I don't" Faux makes smiles softly, much to Argo and Andrei's horror.

"Anyways, Flandre is an especially nasty PK. Do stay away from her Argo" Faux said, clearly trying to steer the conversation clear before the two can comment.

As if taking the hint, Andrei speaks. " You seem to know this FLANDRE a bit"

"Well…. We do have a love-hate relationship" Faux replies.

Argo flinches. "Er…. W-what do you mean by that?"

"Well, for some reason, she doesn't seem to HATE me at all. On the other hand, I would LOVE to splatter her guts all over the floor. See? A Love-Hate relationship" Faux replies.

"Budub Tsss. I see what you did there, my friend" Andre replies.

For some reason, Argo lets out a sigh of relief. "A-anyways, I want to ask something. She seems to know you very well. Why?"

"Most PKs know the PKK ranking, seeing how they have to avoid the high rankers like a plague. However, when the top PKK is screaming for your blood, everyone is bound to hear it and stay the hell away from you. Most of them probably don't want to get caught in the crossfire." replied Faux.

Andrei leans forward with a serious face. "I know I'm not the one to say this, but be careful my friend. No matter how strong you get, you are not invincible."

"Don't worry about it. We PKKs know, more than anyone, how fragile life is." Faux replies. "The deaths of our friends…. forced us to learn that fact the hard way."

-:-

2 DAYS LATER

22nd floor ISPELIA

-:-

"_*sigh*….. I cant believe I'm here again…."_ Faux thought. _"I even missed out on the 50__th__ floor boss for this…. Flandre better be here."_

He hasn't been to 22nd floor since the 4th of April, 2023. Truth be told, he has been avoiding this floor, at least until he can bring the good news to his best friend. Or atleast until he can bring Flandre's head as a souvenir. Ofcourse, he cant exactly bring her severed head to the grave, the death effect made sure of that. Never the less, it would be nice if he could drag her to Gawains grave, then kill her there.

If he had a choice in the matter, he would have joined the 50th floor boss raid, which will be starting in an hour or two.

"_This better be damn worth it!"_

He opens his inventory to check stocks.

"_2 high quality potions, 1 heal crystal, 10 low quality potions and 0 smoke bombs. I guess 2 days of intense training does take its toll on supplies."_

Truth be told, his current situation are far from ideal.

Tamil participated on a 1 week long, large scale ingredient hunt with her guild, which will end in 3 days. As the only who knows how to make the smoke bombs, Tamil's absence is a serious blow to Faux's combat capabilities.

Fully knowing that he is walking to a trap, Faux would really want to avoid facing off against any PKs in his weakened state. However, the chance to kill Flandre is more than enough to override his cautious mindset.

"_If worse comes to worse (and it most certainly will), I'll use_JORMUNGAND _on them." _Faux sighs

The thought of revealing his UNIQUE SKILL that he worked so hard to keep it under wraps, was kind of depressing.

"_Well…. I did learn those absurdly hard moves from Andrei…. Might as well use them to kill the bitch"_

Despite being Russian, Andrei is a big fan of Chinese martial arts (though he cant do any of the stuff he taught Faux). JORMUNGAND may be a purely fictional weapon, but its similarities to a certain Chinese weapon are uncanny. With Andrei's vast knowledge attain from watching god-knows-how-many-hours worth of Chinese films, Faux was able to master some pretty interesting moves using JORMUNGAND.

Deciding to accept the inevitable, Faux sets his skills to make full use of JORMUNGAND.

Faux exits town as fast as he could. He moves down the mountainous landscape at break neck speed, but he keeps to the shadows of the rocks and trees to avoid detection.

Truth be told, Faux has been very uneasy about the whole event. There are simply way to many variables are outside his control. And against an opponent like Flandre, any disadvantage is either crippling or downright fatal.

Faux opens the GUIDEBOOK TO PKs written by Argo and review that he and Argo has compiled on Flandre..

:-:

Flandre AKA THE SCARLET and THE DEVIL

Kill Count- 4

Among all of the PKs Faux has faced, Flandre has proven to be the most challenging. In straight up combat, Faux can rip her apart in 2 seconds or less. However, rather than combat, her true strength lies in manipulation of people through seduction and misinformation. Among the 44 kills that Faux has accumulated, 13 of them are Flandre's _bodyguards_, and none of them were told about who he was.

She seems to enjoy watching others fight and die for her glory. Some sort of Damsel in Distress complex? Or is it just she enjoys being in the spot light? Either way, friends or foes are both in danger when she is around.

:-:

Faux sighs. He has his work cut out for him.

After a few minutes of trekking….

"PLEASE SOMEBODY! HELP ME!" A voice echoes through the forest.

Faux stops and crouches behind the nearest boulder. He takes a peek from his cover and spots a lone green player running while screaming for help. One thing Faux noticed is he cant tell if the player is male or female. The only person Faux knows that looked ridiculously feminine despite being a male was his ever trusty mentor, Kirito.

Alarm bells rang on his mind.

"_Where have I seen that guy/girl before…."_

Faux contemplates for a bit… then shrugs it off for now. Right now, there is someone crying for help, but to Faux, this situation can mean 2 things.

Its either exactly what it seems, a guy/girl crying for help…. Or….

A trap laid out by Flandre…

"_Either way, there is only one way to find out."_

Faux exits his cover and approaches to the boy/girl.

At the sight of him, the boy/girl rushes to him.

"Please help! My sister! PKs! Captured! Other side of the mountain! Don't know what to do! Help!" he/she says erratically

Choosing his words carefully, Faux answers while concealing his intentions. "… Take the lead"

The two rushes through the landscape until they enter a large clearing. There in the middle are 3 people. 2 orange players and 1 green player. Once again, Faux cant tell if the green player is a guy or a girl.

"Ho… look at this GEBRIL! The cute loli came back with a knight in shining armor!" said one of the orange players.

"Hahaha! Looks like I win the bet BEURI. Retards like him do exit!" The other orange player replied

Faux stayed silent as they threw insults at him.

"_GEBRIL and BEURI? Now I know I've heard those names before…. But where?"_

Faux racked his head for answers. A sound of unsheathing sword from behind made him come back to his senses.

"_SHIT!"_

Faux dodge rolls and a second later, a rapier goes thru the place where his head once was. The moment he regains his balance, he leaps back while blocking an incoming dagger from the supposedly-hostage. He continues to back pedal while blocking the twins assault.

"_So it was a trap after all! Damn it Raphael! You know better!"_

Luckily, GEBRIL and BEURI are heavy armor types, thus they are having a hard time trying to catch up.

"_But never the less…. This is bad…"_

He finally realized how he knew these people. It was during the PKK conference that their names were presented. GEBRIL, BEURI and the trap twins CHICO and PICO. These four form the small yet fairly powerful PK guild THE QUARTET, and are normally found 3 or so floors below the front line. They pride themselves as PKs that hunt the most elite of all players, the players of the frontline.

In one on one combat, Faux can rip them apart with little difficulty. Unfortunately for him, THE QUARTET always works in group, making it very hard to defeat them even if Faux was prepared.

In short, Faux is in a hopeless situation.

The pure AGI twins come at him flying. They adopt a well choreographed hit and run tactic. One flies in, strikes then leaves quickly while the other flies in and does the same. Faux dodges what he can and blocks what he cant, but their speed and tactic eventually seals his movement.

On the upside, the two seems to only know one tactic, making them very predictable. All he needs to do is wait for the right moment.

The dagger wielder PICO charges from the front.

From behind, he hears an approaching enemy.

Faux slants his shield slightly, causing the dagger to slide off the shield. At the same time, he turns and spots the rapier wielder CHICO launching a thrust at his gut.

"_You traps are DEAD!"_

Faux spins like a top and executes the reverse grip dagger skill CIRCULAR SPIKE, catching the twins off guard.

CHICO's HP: 79% (Received a critical stab in the neck)

PICO's HP: 71% (Received a critical stab in the back of the head)

CIRCULAR SPIKE is one of the few defensive skills available to dagger users against multiple opponents. By spinning, the user can attack everyone around him while dealing a decent amount of damage. But more importantly, CIRCULAR SPIKE blows everyone back, giving the dagger user the much needed space to breath.

The twins are blown 10 feet back in different directions. Normally, Faux would have taken the opportunity to run, but after putting their speed into consideration, he decided to end the battle in the place where he has the most advantage. It is a bit of a gamble, but the situation where all the prerequisites are met might is too enticing to pass.

Compared to the hopeless situation earlier, Faux's current chance of winning can never be any higher.

"N-no way…." PICO says in disbelief, while still on the floor

On the other side of ground, his brother CHICO also has the same expression of disbelief. GEBRIL and BEURI slowly approaches their comrades, all the while, keeping their swords pointed at Faux. Whatever enthusiasm and drive they had earlier is replaced by caution and nervousness.

"_That's it… be nervous, be cautious, be AFRAID."_

The theory is simple. Fear is inversely proportional to Moral which in turn is directly proportional to combat efficiency. The more they are afraid of Faux, the more their doubt will hinder their ability to think and fight properly.

Gebril steps forward. "They've attacked you for 30 whole seconds... Not only did you find a chance to counter attack, you made it out with more than 60% of your HP?! What the hell!"

On the left side of his screen, Faux can see that his HP is 68% full. Considering what he went through, he could say that he did an exceptional job at keeping himself alive.

"What? Didn't Flandre tell you anything about me?" Faux replies with the confidence that he doesn't have."On the other hand, I already know that you 4 are the members of THE QUARTET guild."

Gebril is shocked." No way…. Flandre sold us out? That bitch!"

"You're wrong on that one my friend. Flandre is in my TO KILL list. You small fries just happen to be in my way. That's all"

Faux prays to the god in heaven that Gebril wont notice how much his hand is shaking in fear. Though his chances have improved, its still hovering around 55%-60%. If he messes up instilling fear on them, then he can kiss his ass goodbye.

Though Faux comment struck a nerve, Gebril calms himself and thinks for a bit. A second later, his face lights up in surprise. "You're… a PKK?"

"Correct. But no cigar. I don't smoke"

THE QUARTET freezes and Faux knows why. Based on Argo's info, THE QUARTET has never faced a PKK for 2 main reasons.

First, just like how the PKKs have information on the PKs, the PKs are well versed in the PKKs. If they play their cards right, such as avoiding the lower floor's where the largest bulk of PK activities are located, they could avoid the PKKs for a very long time.

Second, the PKKs are actually afraid of them. Along with PK's such as POH, THE QUARTET members are counted as one of the few PKs that achieved fairly high levels. Since PKK's tend to act alone, the idea of facing a group of 4 decent PKs would make any PKK think twice. Hell, If Faux knew that he would be facing them, he would have made better preparations.

Fear and uncertainty spreads through the 4 as Faux looks down at them arrogantly (or atleast he looks that way). An understandable reaction, seeing how PKKs have completely different presence than normal players. Argo once said that Faux reeked of blood

"Since you know us, can we atleast know your name?" Gebril asks.

That was it.

That was the question Faux was waiting for. If THE QUARTET are PKs, then his answer will most certainly fill them with fear.

"My name is Faux"

As expected, the 4 face drains of whatever life it had left, much to Faux entertainment.

Faux opens his skill window, searcher for JORMUNGAND and presses the ACTIVATE button. The black shield begins to unravel and reveal its true form. It was never a shield to begin with, just an extremely long chain that was spun tightly to form a shield. At the very end of that long chain is a diamond shape four bladed mace.

A transparent speedometer appears just below his HP bar. As he spins the JORMUNGAND faster, the speedometer rises. The sound of chains echoes throughout the forest like a rattlesnake preparing to strike.

"Well then….DIE!"

-:-

"_RUN! GOTTA GET AWAY! FASTERFASTERFASTERFASTERFAST ERFASTERFASTERFASTER"_

That is the single thought that repeated in Chico's mind as he dashes at full haste towards the town. This was not a tactical retreat… hell, this is not a retreat made from any logical thought. This retreat is something in a more primal in nature.

This retreat is similar to an animal fleeing from fire….. this retreat is made out of fear.

"_Listen to Flandre they said! We can find an easy to kill frontliner they said! It will be fun they said! Biggest bullshit I have ever heard!"_

It took the twins 30 seconds of pure onslaught to reduce PKK Faux's by about 40%, making him the 1st person to ever survive that tactic. On the other hand, it only took the PKK Faux one strike to kill his retarded older twin brother Pico. Even with their top tier armor (for their level) and decent level, Pico died after being crushed by PKK Faux's weapon.

To the PKs, Faux's infamy has reached to near mythical levels. Invincible, undefeatable, monster are amongst the many nicknames that they often describe him.

There was even one theory that he might be Akihiko Kayaba himself. Who else is capable of killing 40+ people? The answer would be the madman who trapped 10 thousand people in his very own hunting ground.

Ofcourse, there is no concrete proof of that claim.

Unfortunately, there is no concrete proof to disprove it either.

Either way, it was none of Chico's concern. What fate has befallen his comrades was also none of his concern.

"_I told them not to trust Flandre, but ~noooooo, she looked like an angel so lets trust her. Whatever happens to them is their damn fault! As for me, I am SO out of here!_

Thus he ran.

In the distance, he finally spots the town of ISPELIA. If he can just get in there he'll be saf-

He feels a light stab on his shoulder. Before he could even confirm what was happening, he falls to the ground, unable to move any of his limbs.

"_Paralysis?" _

"Non non non! I prepared this feast for Faux-sama to enjoy. What host would I be if I let the food run away?" says a familiar playfully haunting voice.

Behind him stands a familiar doll like person, wearing a frilly red gothic lolita dress.

"F-flandre?"

A foot suddenly sinks into his face. "Oh my Oh my! The fried chicken is still alive? Now that wont do! How can I serve Faux-sama something raw?!"

Flandre repeatedly kicks Chico in the face.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" with no means to defend himself, Chico can only ask.

"My my my! This day is full of surprises! To think a food would actually ask MWUA why I'm doing this? Wonderful!" Flandre raises her hands like she was praising the gods in heaven (she is still stepping on Chico's face)." Since you asked, I shall answer! It is all for Faux-sama's glory!"

Chico is more confused than shocked at her statement. "Huh? Arent you POH's wife or something?"

"True…. I was one if his fan girls at one point…. At first, he was like the handsome and fearless leader that will save us all from SAO. I even entered the PK world just for him! How foolish was I to fall head over heels at first sight….."

Flandre sighs."But I guess all in all, POH was good for something. After I killed for the 4th I did meet Faux-sama! The passion in his eyes…. The anger in his roar…. His battle against insurmountable odds…It was like a hero out of a shounen manga! At that very moment, my heart fluttered like never before!"

Flandre went on and on like the yandere that she is.

"_Damn it! She's crazy! I rather take my chances with Faux! At least I'm sure he'll kill me quickly"_

Feeling the paralysis starting to wear off, Chico makes his move…. Or atleast he tries to.

A throwing dagger sinks into his shoulder. To his horror, the paralysis effect was renewed.

"My my. Trying to escape are we? That wont do!" With a deranged smile, Flandre raises her spear. "Know. Your. Place."

-:-

Reality is a cruel, selfish yet surprisingly generous mistress. She'll never give you what you want, but she'll give you a near equivalent of it.

A prime example is Faux's UNIQUE SKILL.

As the only ranged weapon in the game, Faux trained using the THROWING DAGGER without any system assist in hopes that it would unlock the ACHERY unique skill.

As a fan boy of a certain anime, the urge to copy one of the most badass character of that series is irresistible.

If Faux had his way, his shield would shape shift into a black bow. He would take out spiral sword out of nowhere and use it as an arrow. And finally, with a voice filled with GAR , he would announce…

_I AM THE BONE OF MY SWORD_

… and let the spiral sword fly.

A second later, a GARxplosion would rock the world.

But as stated earlier, Reality is one sadistic mistress.

ARCHERY is not available for the players, and with good reason. IRL Medieval English longbows had an effective range of 165 to 220 meters. Put that in a game where the maximum range normaly peaks at 1.5 meters (Polearms), wielders of bows would have an unfair range advantage.

As such, Faux was awarded with the weapon JORMUNGAND under the unique skill LIUXING CHUI (commonly known as a Single Handed Meteor Hammer).

**JORMUNGAND is a Chinese weapon….**

**named after a mythical Norse serpent….**

**used by a half American player….**

**playing in a European themed game….**

**made by Japanese game designers….**

Japanese logic OVER 9000!

…. Anyways, JORMUNGAND is an exaggerated version of the Chinese Meteor Hammer with a range of 20 meters (Meteor= 5 meters). Aside from that, JORMUNGAND is a carbon copy of the Meteor Hammer.

Unfortunately, JORMUNGAND has 2 very big drawbacks.

First and for most, it has no SWORD SKILLS. Thus, the only way to use it properly is purely based on the player's ability. That's why Faux asked Andrei to teach him the kung fu moves from the films he loved so much.

Second big drawback. Due to the nature of the weapon, Faux can no longer use the DAGGER's ability of a SWORD SKILL machine gun, lest he risks entangling his right arm within the chains. This drastic change in style allows him to wield 2 weapons at once, but the DAGGER is limited to single hit attacks.

Despite these severe drawbacks, JORMUNGAND is a fatally powerful weapon thanks to its deceptively humble yet absurdly powerful functions.

First function. As long as JORMUNGAND is active, Unique Skill LIUXING CHUI multiplies the damage done based JORMUNGAND's velocity. The faster JORMUNGAND is swung, the stronger the damage is.

Second function. JORMUNGAND has the ability to pull anyone that it latches to, similar to **GET OVER HERE!** by Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. If the target is too heavy for his strength modifier, Faux will be the one who gets pulled to the target. This function works well when instilling fear to his enemies as he takes them out one at a time, just like in the horror movies.

Thanks to his weapon load out and general fighting style, Faux can no longer copy his favorite anime character. On the flip side, he partially copy one of the most badass video game character of all time.

"I AM THE GOD OF WAR! NONE SHALL DEFY ME!"

-:-

The tides have shifted, just as Faux planned.

Faux rapidly strike at the axe wielder, Gebril. The meteor continuously spins at his left, hammering its victim viciously and repeatedly. After each strike, Faux spins the meteor faster in order to strike behind him, forcing Beuri to think twice of approaching him.

He keeps the heat on Gebril, launching a barrage of meteor strikes while sneaking a couple of dagger stabs amidst the chaos. His target can do little but block and parry, but never the less, the meteor keeps striking within his guard thanks to its ability to attack at corners. Despite the thick armor, Faux can drop Gebril's HP to zero in 20 seconds. 5 if Faux can get a clean hit.

The sound of footsteps behind starts to fade, a clear sign that Beuri is trying to escape.

"_Not on my watch!"_

The battle tempo pauses.

Faux retreats a bit, spinning the meteor at full force and swings at Gebril at full force. Gebril blocks it and is blasted a few meters back, as expected. Faux pulls back JORMUNGAND, turns around and launches it at Beuri's leg, making him fall flat on his face. Faux jumps and at the same time, retracts the meteor, pulling him to Beuri like a predator to his prey.

"GET OVER HERE!"

Only usable while airborne, Faux executes his strongest reverse grip, single hit dagger sword skill, AIR ASSASINATION.

BEURI's HP: 36% (Damage: 45%, critical damage to the back)

As expected, the armor reduced his damage considerably…. But Faux wasn't going to let him stand

Faux executes PENTASTAB again and again and again until Bueri's HP drops to zero.

"_Down and out"_

Faux turns his attention back to Gebril, who took the chance to run for his life.

"_Gotta love it when they squirm"_

Faux launches the meteor up a nearby branch and shoots up the tree. He parkour his way through the trees while using the meteor in a way that would make Spiderman proud. As he swings through the trees, the rattling of the meteor's chains causes Gebril to trip in panic. Faux makes one big swing and lands 5 meters in front of Gebril.

"Sorry bub… your life ends here" Faux spins the meteor as fast as he can.

Gebril kneels in front of Faux and begs for his life. "Please don't kill me! I didn't know you were the target"

"Ho… begging for your life huh? That's a very ugly way to go, you know? Be a man will ya" Faux replies

"L-lets make a deal. How about I tell you everything you need to know about the PK's. That's a good deal r-right? All you need to do is to let me walk." Gebril begs in desperation

"Tempting.." Faux cracks a twisted smile. "But I have a reputation to protect"

"WAI-"

Gebril's head explodes into the blue as the meteor goes through it.

"_Another one bites the dust… but still no Flandre…" _Faux rubs his head in rare frustration. _"Then there's that other trap who ran…. Need to hunt him quickly… he did see my unique skill …. *sigh* This is seriously not my day…"_

-:-

22nd floor ISPELIA

Faux is _mildly_ pissed off. The beautiful view from the mountain top café and the sweet milk he ordered did very little remove his _mild_ frustration. No Flandre, nearly got killed, missed out on the 50th floor boss and revealing his unique skill to a person that could be anywhere by now. No one would blame him for being _mildly _angry.

"_Enough belly aching. That trap Pico… or was it Chico? I cant tell which is which… but more importantly, need to kill him fast. My ace of spades is at stake here…."_

Faux shifts his brain into overdrive. He considers all possible options, all possible connections and all possible scenarios to find the trap that fled.

A highly formal voice snaps him back to reality. "Pardon me, may I have your permission to sit here?"

"Sure, it's a free cou-" Faux freezes.

In front of him was the beautiful and elegant girl that he has desired to see for so long.

"Good day." The girl curtseys." This is the first we've sat down and ta- "

A massive explosion rocks the café as Faux's dagger, the +7 DEATH PERCEPTION (Last Attack Bonus Rare Drop from the 49th floor boss) strikes the girl's forehead and blasts her 5 feet back, shocking the other customers in the process.

As expected, her life doesn't drop at all.

"My my, how bold. Though I don't dislike being treated roughly, doing it in front of so many people is unethical" The girl replies with no sense of fear in her voice

"Sorry about Flandre, but I did come here to kill you" Faux says, not bothering to hide his killing intent.

About 14 men suddenly blocks his way.

"Stop right there evil do-er! How dare you hit this lovely lady?!" Says the leader of the 14 stooges

"_Oh god… a bunch of retards playing hero…just what I need"_

The leader offers his hand to the fallen Flandre. "Have no fear my lady. We will defend you against this scoundrel"

"Oh my, what a gentleman." Flandre takes his hand and stands."I find it very flattering for men such as yourself to fight in my honor. But I must inquire… are all of you certain that you will fight Faux the PKK?"

Fear spreads not only to the 14 stooges, but to everyone in the restaurant. As the people focused on Faux, the ring leader, Flandre, smiles in twisted joy.

"_She's having way too much fun."_ Faux thought. _"I know I'm not the one to talk, but scaring this much people in public is kinda sick…."_

Flandre recovers her calm and overly respectful persona. She walks towards Faux and wraps her hand around his hand (Faux used all of his self control to stop himself from stabbing her agian.)

"I'm sorry for all the interruptions Faux-sama. Shall we continue with our rendezvous? " Flandre presses her sensual breasts to his arm.

Normally, Faux would pierce the heavens with his drill for such a rare eroge-like encounter, but right now, he keeps his wits about. For all he knows, this could also be part of an elaborate trap.

"M-my fair maiden… why are you going with that scoundrel?" The leader of the stooges asks

With a seductive smile, Flandre replies. "Should it not be obvious? Beautiful girls such as myself are reserved for the hero's pleasure. I thank you for helping me up. Good day"

Flandre lightly pulls Faux, leaving the audience with their jaws glued to the floor.

-:-

For the next 2 hours, Faux participated in something similar to a date. The two browsed for clothes, accessories and food, just like a normal date. The main difference is Faux, who kept his vigilance through out the entire date. He chose his words carefully and spoke only when it's necessary, very unlike his normal demeanor. He kept conscious of his surroundings, just in case Flandre leads him to an ambush spot.

From the looks of it, Flandre didn't mind his unusual silence. She kept talking and talking about irrelevant subjects, which is exactly how a girlfriend would act in a date.

Surprisingly, the date proceeds normally, defying Faux's expectations.

At the moment, Faux and Flandre is sitting on a wall with a beautiful view of the setting sun. Flandre leans on his shoulder with her hands still wrapped around his.

"Faux-sama, did you enjoy our date?" Flandre asks sweetly.

"Unfortunately, no. I have a lot on my mind." Faux replies.

Aside from being cautious during the date, he also has to worry about the last remaining member of THE QUARTET.

"If you are worried about CHICO of THE QUARTET, he is already dead. Please put your mind at ease." Flandre replies as if reading his mind.

Though surprised, Faux remains cool and answers back. "… let me guess… you killed him?"

"You are correct. I do apologies for that. I fail as a host if the food I prepared was still raw."

"Oy…. No remorse for your fallen comrades? That's cold"

"Comrades? No no no. They are the finest food that I prepared for you. This is our first rendezvous, after all."

"They nearly killed me, you know?"

"But they failed to do so. The thought of you dying against such meager prey did not cross my mind at all." Flandre snuggles closer to Faux

"_Damn it… she is definitely much better at manipulating others than I am"_ Faux thought.

"…. Flandre…. What are you planning?" Faux asks, hiding his annoyance as best as he can

"That is obvious Faux-sama. I wanted this rendezvous to be a success, nothing more" Flandre replies innocently

"And THE QUARTET? What the hell is their part in this perfect date plan of yours?"

"That should be obvious as well Faux-sama. They are measly food to increase your glory"

"_This bitch is CRAZY!"_ Faux rubs his forehead in frustration.

Flandre releases her hold on Faux and stands. "Unfortunately, time is against us. Regretfully, I must end our rendezvous here. It was a joyous event for me, and for that, I thank you."

Flandre turns around and heads for the Teleport Stone.

"The next time we meet, I WILL KILL YOU." Faux calls out to her.

Flandre stops and turns around. Much to Faux's shock, Flandre is wearing a beautiful and innocent smile.

"For our next rendezvous, I await in bathed breath!"

-:-


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

THE TOWER

-:-

August 31, 2024

The sound of battle echoes through the vast ARCANE CATHEDRAL, a castle floating 50 feet above the ground, located at the 64th floor.

"HA!"

Faux attack repeatedly, without thought, without strategy, without pause. He didn't like using such a mindless fighting style, as it does not match his fighting style.

To him, a battle is won by 3 major factors: Preparation, Enemy Manipulation and Variable Prevention. The 1st two are self explanatory and fairly easy to execute.

The last one, Variable Prevention, is trying to stop uncertain factors (hence VARIABLES) from surfacing. Unfortunately, no one can predict the future, thus he can only do so much to prevent what he can. The rest is up to fate.

He hates attacking recklessly, but his opponent is not something he can beat with his unconventional tactics. Heck…. His opponent is something HE CANNOT BEAT… PERIOD. In this battle, he holds no advantage what so ever. His opponent can see through all his strategies. His ability to use fear as a weapon is also worthless in this battle. The enemy does even give him any time to set up a smoke bomb.

He's betting it all on one lucky shot…. that one clean hit can end it. On the flip side, the second his barrage wanes, game over. And that is why Faux strikes with reckless abadon.

Making full use of the Chinese moves taught by Andre, the meteor hammer, JORMUNGAND, strikes at absurd angles, yet the opponent reacts perfectly and blocks every one of them. In desperation, Faux spins and launches a full force swing, hoping to unbalance his opponent. A white blade meets the meteor hammer head on, followed by a black blade that hammers it into the ground, killing its momentum.

Sensing his impending doom, Faux jumps back…. but it was too late.

"STAR BURST STREAM!"

"_Oh crap…"_

Faux is blown back as the rain of slashes comes at him mercilessly. He dodges and parries to the best of his abilities, but it does little to delay the inevitable. Eventually, the slashes breaks his guard and with a final thrust, he is blown off his feet and lands face first on the floor.

The duel ends with Kirito on top, and Faux eating dirt

"Mrs. pavement, we meet once again." Faux rubs his cheeks on the floor. "How I love your cold embrace."

Kirito approaches Faux and offers him a helping hand. "You've improved a lot, Faux. I doubt I'll win the next time"

"Those are empty words, Kirito. I did believe you the first time you said that… 4 months ago" Faux replied sarcastically.

"Now now. I'm giving you a compliment straight from the heart here. Pretend to be grateful at the very least." Kirito replies. "But seriously, with your current rate of improvement, I doubt I'll win the next duel"

Faux shrugs. "And this is coming from the person who has beaten me 16 out of 16 times in a row? Not even a brain dead monkey would believe you"

"So much sarcasm…. Though it true.." Kirito nods in agreement. "Now that I think about it, why did you want to have these duels? I doubt you enjoyed losing all the time."

"It's a good way to gauge my combat effectiveness. There is nothing like being beaten within an inch of my life by an undefeatable opponent to give me a clear perspective on things."

"Undefeatable? I don't know about that." Kirito laughs drily. "On another note, I'm impressed how unique your fighting style is. I always felt that something was off when we duel, but now I understand what it is"

"Ho… insightful arent we? Care to elaborate?" Faux replies, unsure if someone finally understand his fighting style or just another random guess

Kirito begins explaining his theory.

"From what I can understand, your fighting style revolves around making your enemy misunderstand your abilities"

"Well, that's new. Go ahead" Faux is curious how his skills look from another perspective.

Kirito clears his throat and begins his explanation.

"It's been a standard MMORPG knowledge that knife users are fast individuals that employ weak yet numerous attacks to destroy an enemy. That SPEED is the key factor to your style. Using your outward appearance and the common RPG misunderstanding, you create the illusion that you're a typical dagger type player, where in truth, your AGI stat isn't that high. Am I right?"

"Don't ask me. You're the one doing the explaining" Faux replies. But never the less, he is impressed. Kirito pretty much nailed it.

"I see…. Let me continue then." Kirito smiles in amusement." Without your unique skill, you fight a defensive battle. Normally, you would lure enemies in and counter strikes when they enter your range. When your meteor hammer is active, your range and attack rate drastically increases, further solidifying your high AGI illusion. Most people would probably focus in blocking most of your attacks, while completely ignoring how large your damage dish out. By the time they notice how much damage they received, it would most likely be too late. In conclusion, your power lies in your abnormal stat distribution. Your AGI is mediocre but your STR is probably a few levels from the highest in the game"

Faux stares at Kirito in disbelief. " I had my doubts in the past …. But you really are a Mary Sue person, arent you? Or is it a Gary Stu? You are male after all"

"I'm a what?"

"A Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Its a fan fiction slang for character with unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling. Its an idealized character representing the author."

"….I still don't get it"

"Mr. Kirito. You sir, are TOO DAMN PERFECT! You know everything, and if my guess is correct, you can also do anything!" Faux roars, shocking Kirito in the process. "I mean look at yourself! If you wore a maid costume, no one would believe that you are a guy! That honor is only given to heroes of eroges or something!"

"I don't know about that… " Kirito replies

"STFU! Can you imagine if I wore a maid uniform?!"

Both of them imagine Faux in a maid uniform….. and no words can describe how disgusting the image was.

"Well…. That was something out of a horror film…" Kirito says

"Yeah… it was definitely R18 stuff…." Faux nods in agreement. "Anyways, back to the topic. As a member of the mythical Mary Sue/ Gary Stu race, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a harem."

"Nope, I don't"

"LIES! I can already name 3 girls that are within your harem!"

"R-realy?" Kirito replies uneasily.

"Ho ho ho! Looks like you already have an idea who those are. Good good. Then allow me to drop the bombs." Faux smiles sadistically. "First and foremost, is the loli beast tamer Silica! …. You pedo…."

"H-hold on! We don't have that kind of relationship! … And how in gods name did you know about Silica?"

"Remember the SILVER FLAG incident? I was actually going to help the leader of the guild in hunting down the TITANS HAND. But when he discovered I was a PKK, he refused with all of his might. He didn't want TITANS HAND dead, he just wanted to bring them to justice. Ofcourse, I wasn't gona let that stop me. However, by the time I was able to track them down, they were already sent to prison by a certain black swordsman."

Kirito laughs dryly.

Faux smiles and continues. "I tracked the witness (Silica), and was able to talk to her about the incident. She was like _KIRITO was so amazing _ and stuff… I couldn't even stand 5 minutes of talking to her. But when I asked her if she liked you, she was like _Huh? W-wha? I- no. eh? I mean! Ah… awww_ while acting very cutesy. You should have seen it man! It was loli-eye candy. I don't know how you manage to get your hands on her heart, but she's in love with you. But remember, pedophilia is a crime…."

Once gain Kirito laughs dryly, a clear sign that he knew about Silica's feelings, but did not pursue it.

With a sadistic grin, Faux continues on. "NEXT! The pretty blacksmith Lisbeth!"

"What?! You know about her too?!" Kirito exclaims.

"Well, yeah. She is one of the top smiths in SAO. If my smith friend isn't available, I go to Lisbeth. Besides, Its not like I'm in bad terms with her anyways." Faux replies cooly. " Anyways, it seems that you were able to get her under your grasps in just 2 days! You freaking Casanova!"

"Oi! Its not like I planned it that way!"

"STFU! Do you know how much I, and many young men, would give for a wooing ability like that?! GRRR! This isn't the first time we consider dissecting you to find out what the hell makes you so swag!"

Kirito pauses. "_W-WE?_ What do you mean by _WE?_"

"The ALLIANCE OF THE INCREADIBLY SWAGLESS MEN ofcourse!" Faux quickly calms himself. If he starts preaching about the inequality between the swag and the swagless, he could go on for hours. "*Inhale* Exhale*… phew…. Anyways back to the topic-"

"O-oi! You just said something scary there! What was that hell was with that alliance thing?!" Kirito asks in a panic.

"Don't worry about the minor details. Your perfectly safe… for now… Back to the topic!" Faux proceeds, ignoring Kiritos desperate pleads for information.

"Last but not the least, Asuna of the Knights of the Blood. If you didn't see that coming, then you are a retard"

Kirito looks away bashfully. "W-we're not-"

"Like that?" Faux continues. "Bitch please, you might not be like that now, but she is definitely heroine material. Nothing is more befitting for a Mary Sue/Gary Stu character like yourself to be paired with the most popular girl in SAO. From the very first time I saw both of you, I could already tell that the red string of fate is practically strangling you."

"R-really?" Kirito replies in a manner that Faux did not expect.

"…_. He is actually hoping for it to happen? I guess a Gary Stu still has the ability to be like someone."_

Faux places his hand over Kirito's shoulder. "I guarantee it!"

-:-

50th floor ALGADE

5 hours later

"50 of the highest grade potions I could possibly make. But no smoke bombs today, either?" Tamil asks, while preparing the potions.

"Well yeah… The ingredients for the smoke bombs are from different monsters on different floors. Truth be told, its getting harder to make time for ingredient gathering with all the leveling up and PKK activities." Faux sighs.

"Oh yeah…. There was that mass raid against LAUGHING COFFIN 9 days ago…." Tamil replies with a sorrowful expression. As expected of a grade school teacher, she hates it when needless incidents happen.

But that sad incident was unavoidable, LAUGHING COFFIN had it coming. Surprisingly, the coalition came to be thanks to LaCroix's skillful manipulation of the public opinion. He suggested a peaceful solution by sending envoys to the red guild, knowing full well that they would die. With this, the public would awaken to the cold hard fact… LAUGHING COFFIN is to be exterminated. PERIOD.

From what Faux heard, the high level players formed a massive 50 player team to decimate the red guild. For some reason, the information about the crusade got leaked, and the crusaders were ambushed by the red guild. At the end of it all, 21 LAUGHING COFFIN members and 11 crusaders died.

Faux didn't participate in the large scale battle because he and the rest of the PKKs individually fought behind enemy lines. Truth be told, the crusaders were actually going to face a massive alliance between the LAUGHING COFFIN and other smaller red guilds with POH as the leader. If the PKKs didn't intercept and repel the reinforcements, the crusade would have failed horribly.

9 players were unfortunate enough to be ambush by Faux, bringing his total kill count to an absurd 56 kills.

Special mention goes to POH, who fought Faux into a standstill. POH's skill was below Kirito, that's for sure, but never the less, he was skilled enough to force Faux's progress into a slow crawl. If the battle lasted a few more seconds, Faux would have won, but POH's allies ganged up on Faux forcing him to retreat.

Only a select few knows what happened behind the enemy lines, thus the PKKs will never get the recognition they deserve.

"_Its not like we give a damn if we don't get any praise"_

Yes. The PKKs are not in it for glory or honor. What they want is simple.

The death of the ones that caused them so much pain.

Faux stared blankly into space, recalling the events during the crusades.

"Done" Tamil's voice snaps him back to reality.

Faux pays the bill (as usual, the price made him cringe) , thanks Tamil and begins to leave.

"Hey Faux, how about I read your fortune. Its been a while hasn't it?" Tamil takes out a familiar black set of cards.

Instinct wise and experience wise, Tamil's fortune telling should be avoided like a plague. Faux has already seen how terrifyingly accurate it is. But ofcourse, Faux was never the one to let superstition get in the way of his curiosity.

"Sure, why not. I don't mind seeing how much agony I am about to experience."

"Are you saying that I only predict bad things? How rude."

"Sorry, experience tells me exactly that."

"How rude! That's it! I'll prove to you that I can predict good things too! This time, I'll aim for your love life." Tamil pouts, as she pushes the deck to Faux.

Faux shuffles it and hands it back. "Do your worst."

Tamil puffs her cheeks in displeasure and proceeds with her divination.

"For this session, I'll be picking multiple cards until I get the LOVERS arcane. The cards before the LOVERS will signify those who are currently in love with you."

"Man… that sounds bad…. What if you draw the LOVERS first?"

"That's should be obvious. It means you are one sad soul" Tamil replies, much to Faux displeasure.

Tamil begins drawin the cards

THE PRIESTESS

THE EMPRESS

THE DEVIL

THE LOVERS

"_FUCK YEAH! I'm not a forever alone guy"_

Tamil inspects the cards, then begins to interpret them.

"THE PRIESTESS is a sign of wisdom and secrets. I guess this person knows way more than she should. Does that ring a bell?"

Faux couldn't contain his shock. There was only one person that fits the description, Argo. It doesn't really come as a surprise. Faux already had a feeling that she has some sort of feelings for him.

"Next is THE EMPRESS, normally associated with sexuality, beauty and power….. For some reason, I think I know who this one is…" Tamil says. "Its that white haired girl, Czarina, isn't it?"

Faux was afraid she'll say that. He has been ignoring that possibility for a while now, but considering how Czarina/Angelica has always been clinging to him throughout her life, Faux cant help but accept the possibility that his own sister might have feelings for him.

"And finally, THE DEVIL. Lust, egoisms and obsession are normally associated with this card. Er… I don't like the sound if this one…"

Faux couldn't agree more. Flandre, aka THE DEVIL, hasn't been very secretive in her affection (and lunacy). It is truly a shame, she has the looks and the body of an idol. Unfortunately, she is going to die by Faux's hands.

"And you promised to predict good things, huh? I'm getting one hell of a headache just watching the cards" Faux massages his head in annoyance. "Why do I only get the weirdos."

Truth be told, its flattering to know that someone desires him, however, Faux cannot answer any of their feelings (especially Flandre's). Faux is actively and constantly tempting death, and the less that will miss him, the better. It's a lonely lifestyle, but its better this way.

"Ha ha ha… ha ha…" Tamil laughs dryly. " A-anyways, let continue…"

"Theres more?!" Faux asks. "Oi oi! How much damage are you going to cause my self esteem until you're satisfied?"

"Until I can predict something good!"

"_So you're saying that my self esteem is going to receive unrepairable damage?"_

Faux sighs and accepts his fate. "Fine fine. Just go easy alright? I plan to keep my sanity for a while."

Once again, Tamil puffs her cheeks in displeasure. "The next card will signify what is to happen in the future between you and those who are interested in you."

Tamil draws THE TOWER in an upside down position.

The two stares at the card

"…."

"…."

"Tamil…"

"… Yes?"

"THE TOWER is not a good sign… isn't it…"

"…. Yes…."

FACEPALM

Tamil laughs dryly. "A-anyways. THE TOWER symbolizes the realization of truth and chaotic change that comes with it."

Faux massages his head in frustration. "Are you seriously trying to predict something good? Or are you trying to rub it in that I'm an unlucky person?"

"Oh no no no! You misunderstand Faux. True enough, THE TOWER symbolizes chaos, but in the upside down position, it means something else. It usually means that the sudden change you are about to experience will lead to a better future." Tamil explains.

"The future looks dark… either in life or romance, I am screwed." Faux sighs. He stands and heads for the door. "I'm heading out Tamil. My self esteem points are already at an all time low. I would like to leave before you crush whatever is left of my ego."

"HOW RUDE!"

Faux waves without looking back. As he exists the shop, a PM flashes in front of him. He opens the message and reads the contents… but a voice in front of him forces his attention back to reality.

"Yo…." Said a familiar 6'8" hooded man carrying a familiar Scythe over his shoulders.

"…_. Sorry Argo… you PM came a little too late."_

-:-

Czarina runs through the city of ALGADE as fast as she can. Now more than ever, she curses wearing heavy armor. On the other hand, its thanks to her heavy armor that she's been moving in a straight line. Anyone and everyone who gets in her path gets rammed and run over by her massive momentum.

"_I have to hurry! Ani-sama is in danger!"_

A few minutes ago, Czarina received a short PM from Argo. It stated that Faux is being hunted by another PKK named TYRANT aka THE GRIM REAPER. Apparently, Faux killed a PK named GEBRIL a few months back. GEBRIL happens to be the main target of the PKK TYRANT. It is only recently that TYRANT that found out after sneaking into the 1st floor and viewing the Monument of Life.

And what happens when the main subject of rage disappears?

Simple. It is redirected to the one that made it disappear.

PKKs strength has always been their rage. They train more than anyone. They risk more than anyone. They kill more than anyone. All of their efforts are focused on that one moment when they strangle their target with their own hands.

Thus, Czarina wasted no time and rushed to where Argo said Faux was. Truth be told, she was actually in the middle of the largest meeting since the PK crusades. But she did not hesitate to rush out, for nothing is more important than Faux.

Not the guild.

Not her comrades.

Not a thing is more important than Faux.

While in deep thought, Czarina plows into another group of random bystanders. Not interested in their fate, Czarina continues on.

A few minutes later, she reaches her destination. But for some unknown reason, a large crowd has gathered. It didn't take her long to spot a familiar information dealer amongst the crowd.

"Argo! What's happening?" Czarina asks as she approaches.

Argo took of her hood, revealing a very pissed off rat. "Damn it! We're too late! Tyrant got here first!"

Czarina looks to the center of the crowd and spots 2 figures. 1 of them was a very tall brown hooded man, carrying a massive scythe on his shoulders. Opposite to him was a familiar white hooded figure with his signature shield and dagger combination

"_ANI-SAMA!"_ Czarina moves… until an uneasy feeling struck her, forcing her to stay rooted on where she stands.

No. Its not just her. Everyone in the crowd is rooted on their spot, as if moving will provoke some wild animal.

"If you cant move, don't bother moving Ciz" Said Argo. "This is just how PKKs are. They have already reached the point where you can call them MONSTERS."

Czarina turns her attention back to the 2 PKKs. _"Ani-sama…. What happened to you?"_

Silence reigns as the tense atmosphere persists. Eventually, PKK Tyrant breaks the silence.

"So…. We meet again Faux."

"Good job Captain Obvious. Is there anything else you would like to add?" Faux replies sarcastically, pissing off Tyrant in the process. "So, what do you want? Make it quick. I got places to go."

Tyrant keeps his anger in check ."I assume you know why I'm here, correct?"

"No. That's why I'm asking." Faux replies sarcastically.

More veins pop on Tyrant's head yet he still keeps his cool. "Its an unspoken rule amongst us PKKs to not touch each others preys. You know that, correct?"

"I do. What about it?"

Tyrant readies his scythe. "You killed GEBRIL! He was my prey! And you know what happens to bad boys who steal other people's prey, don't you?!"

Faux remains silent for a few seconds.

"Damn that Flandre…. She planned this THAT far ahead?" Faux massages his forehead. "So? What do you wanna do now?"

Tyrant access his menu. A second later, something appears in front of Faux. Czarina didn't need to see to know what it is.

"A duel to the death!" Tyrant announces for everyone to hear.

"….And if I refuse?"

Tyrant laughs maniacly. "Then I have to visit those who you value the most. I heard you've been hanging out with Argo THE RAT more than anyone in SAO. I doubt anyone knows more about you than she does. How sweet"

"eh?" a small voice beside Czarina says.

Beside her, Argo blushed profusely. Of course, Czarina felt a small hint of murderous jealousy swell up, but she manages to pin it down and keep it from surfacing

"Or how about Czarina?" Tyrant continues." I know how you've been to keep her safe from the shadows. Threatening those who targets her, killing those who refuses to listen."

"Eh?"

This time, Czarina couldn't keep her surprise hidden. The very thought that her beloved brother has always been caring for her the entire time, makes her happier than receiving a rare boss item drop.

Her elation was cut short when intense killing intent practically drowns the crowd.

"Ho ho ho! You really want to die, don't you?" Faux says with a voice filled with malice. He presses the confirm button, starting the countdown timer

"Ofcourse not. I just want to kill you" Tyrant readies himself to lunge.

A few seconds pass in silence.

The moment the countdown reaches zero, the most savage battle in SAO begins.

-:-

BOOM!

The town of ALGADE rocks as two PKKs collide in full force.

Faux dodge the scythe's blade and blocks the shaft using his dagger and shield, turning it into a pushing battle. Despite his earlier arrogance, Faux is in a very sticky situation, and most of it is contributed to Tyrant's unique skill, the SCYTHE.

Just like everything in SAO, the SCYTHE is horribly exaggerated. The SCYTHE consists of 3 weapons. First is the standard scythe, second is the hammer attached to the base of the scythe, and the third is a small spearhead attached to the opposite end of the shaft.

Despite the menacing enemy, the counter strategy is actually very simple. As long as he keeps the battle in extreme close range, then Tyrant cant make full use of the SCYTHE.

Ofcourse, reality is well known for being uncooperative.

Tyrant takes a step back and swings the hammer part of the scythe. Faux blocks, but is blasted 5 meters back due to the sheer weight of the weapon.

"_Oh crap…. That's bad"_

Faux takes up a defensive stance, and as he expected, the attacks rained on him relentlessly. This was the situation that Faux wanted to avoid. Tyrant abuses his long reach to attack Faux from outside his range and force him into a corner.

Unfortunately for Tyrant, Faux is very proud of his defensive fighting.

Faux refuses to give any ground to Tyrant. On the contrary, Faux begins to advance. He dodges, blocks and parries the rain of blows, while slowly shrinking the distance between them.

He uses small movements to dodge. He slants his shield to block. He strikes the scythe with full force, causing Tyrant to lose his rhythm and balance.

If anything, Faux's head on fighting style is tankish in nature. Slowly but surely, Faux is driving Tyrant into a corner, and judging from the looks of Tyrant's face, he knows it too.

In desperation, Tyrant jumps back and creates a 10 meter distance between them. Faux doesn't give chase.

"_I see… so that's how your build is."_

Faux has been testing Tyrant for the most important info in PVP combat, the stat distribution. From the looks of it, Tyrant's strength was only at a level where he meets the minimum requirement to use the scythe. The rest is allocated to agility.

How did he know that? It's simple.

When Faux was parrying the rain of blows, he noticed that he occasionally forced the scythe back with brute force, despite the scythe's large weight. When Tyrant retreaded, his speed is similar to those of Kirito's.

But of course, Faux does get cocky because of one very good reason…..

The scythe glows in white as Tyrant charges violently. Faux takes a defensive stance and waits for the enemy. Much to Faux's surprise, Tyrant swung the scythe directly at his shield, a very horrible mistake that only an elementary student would make. In this position, Faux can easily throw a haymaker counter attack once the scythe slides off his shield.

_DODGE IT!_

His instincts practically scream at him. It has never failed him before, and it has no reason to fail him now. He drops down and dodgerolls to the right. Unfortunately, his reaction time was a second too late…. and he finally understands why his instincts went insane.

The scythe phases through the shield and slices through his left shoulder.

Without delay, Faux regains his balance and quickly retreats while dodging 2 more horizontal strikes. The moment the strikes end, Faux activates his SPRINT ability and creates a 5 meter distance between them.

FAUX's HP: 87%

"_Ho…. That wasn't a bad as I thought"_ Faux sighs in relief. _"But ever the less… what the hell was that?!"_

"HAHAHAHA! As expected of THE MURDERER! Nobody has ever survived a first meeting with the ARMOR PIERCER!" Tyrant says.

"_ARMOR PIERCER… hmm… interesting."_

Based on recent events and context clues, Faux can guess what happened. The ARMOR PIERCER is probably something that uses the enemy's armor as basis of its damage. The higher the armor, the higher the damage… or at least that's what he thinks.

His JORMUNGAND in shield form is probably has the crappiest defense rating amongst the high level items. Add the fact that Faux wears no armor, the damage he should have received from the sword skill ARMOR PIERCER should have taken 40%-50% of his life... at least, that's how it is if the damage is based on the Scythe.

Unfortunately, that doesn't make it any less dangerous. With no way to parry or block it, Faux will only get chipped to death.

"NO TIME TO THINK!" yells Tyrant, forcing Faux back to reality.

Tyrant lets lose a storm of strikes while the ARMOR PIERCER is active, forcing Faux to dodge with all of his might. Slowly but surely, Faux is being chipped apart. In desperation, Faux turns around and runs at full speed, receiving a small blow to the back but was able to widen their distance by 10 meters.

FAUX's HP: 49%

"_THAT! IS! IT! NOW I AM PISSED!"_

"HAHAHAHA! This is THE MURDERER?! PATHETIC! Even cowards put up more fight than you do!" Tyrant taunts, unknowingly buying Faux the few vital seconds he so desperately needs. "Why don't you just kneel down and save me the trouble of chopping your hea-"

The sound of rattling chains forces Tyrant and everyone else into silence. Like the snake it is named after, JORMUNGAND expands menacingly around a very angry looking Faux.

At this point, Faux no longer cares of keeping his unique skill a secret. For threatening the people he cares about (and for forcing him to use JORMUNGAND in public), he wants nothing more than to bash, slash, rip, gouge, strangle and/or smash Tyrant into oblivion.

With a rage filled roar, THE GRIM REAPER's end begins.

-:-

_barbarous,__ bloodthirsty, ferocious, inhuman, merciless, pitiless, remorseless, ruthless, savage, severe, __uncivilized,__ unmerciful, vicious _

Whatever word you might use, it matters not.

Faux's current fighting style is BRUTALITY manifested in physical form. A fighting style inspired from the GOD OF WAR and DEVIL MAY CRY games, Faux is confident he could give Dante a run for his stylish points.

Faux launches a relentless, dance-like onslaught, forcing Tyrant to defend like there is no tomorrow. The moment Tyrant closes his eyes, Faux disappears and the barrage ends….. temporarily.

To Tyrant, Faux has disappeared from thin air. However, it is only a simple matter of Faux no longer following the standard rules of combat.

Faux launches the meteor hammer to a nearby lamp post and pulls himself towards it. Using the post a fulcrum, Faux slingshots himself back to Tyrant, effectively attacking him in his blindsides, then he quickly launches to another spot and blindsides Tyrant once more, constantly keeping him outbalanced.

This is the style he uses when fighting against large group of PKs in a forest type field, only this time, he is doing it in a much faster pace. He would have used it against Kirito, however, the ARCANE CATHEDRAL didn't have anything for the meteor hammer to latch on to.

Due to the erratic state of his fighting style, majority of Faux's attacks didn't land a clean blow. But never the less, he was able to reduce Tyrants life down to 57% without receiving a single hit.

Faux strikes Tyrant and prepares to move to a nearby roof. Suddenly, the mace part of the scythe smashes into his leg, tripping him in the process.

FAUX's HP: 38%

From the looks of it, the surprised Tyrant didn't expect to hit him at all. Never the less, the damage is colossal for a misplaced strike.

Tyrant capitalizes and swings with full force. Faux dodge rolls, but wasn't able to dodge it completely.

FAUX's HP: 31%

Out of nowhere, the meteor hammer plants sinks into Tyrant's jaw, causing him to stagger.

TYRANT's HP: 44% (Critical Hit)

Faux can manipulate JORMUNGAND to counter attack, regardless of how crappy his stance is. Such is the beauty of soft weapons. No one can truly predict where the next attack will come from.

Faux pulls back the meteor hammer, then launches it without delay. The hammer misses Tyrant's neck by mere inches. Tyrant takes the opportunity and charges.

Unfortunately for Tyrant, the attack was MENT to miss. JORMUNGANGD latches onto a statue 15 meters behind Tyrant. With the help of the meteor hammer, Faux charges towards Tyrant at abnormal speeds. Tyrant instinctively swings his scythe like a golf club, impaling Faux in the gut. Faux ignores this and stabs Tyrant in the heart. Faux then drives Tyrant into the statue.

With the scythe lodged in Faux's body and his body pinned to the wall, Tyrant is in a very horrible situation. Its not exactly what Faux planned, but beggars cant be choosers. Tyrant tries to push Faux away, but Faux has one final card to play. He uses his strength modifier to the fullest and immobilizes Tyrant against the wall.

"You're an STR type?!" Tyrant exclaims, realizing it far too late. He desperately tries to dislodge the scythe from Faux, but Faux forcefully pins the shaft to Tyrants chest.

Tyrant's only hope of winning is for the DOT (Damage Over Time) to kill Faux first. However, in extreme CQC, the dagger shines brightest.

Faux pulls out his dagger, raises it reverse grip and executes the sword skill PENTA STAB repeatedly. Tyrant tries to resist, using his arms as a shield, but it makes no difference.

With one final stab, Tyrant stops resisting as his watch his life slowly ends.

"*sigh* Man…. You're good, as advertised" Tyrant says in a relaxed manner

"Don't sell yourself short. You weren't a walk in the park either." Faux replies.

There was no rage, or hate, or sorrow in their words. Only acceptance of the inevitable.

This is something that all PKKs must accept the moment they decide to walk down this path. Death awaits them, there is no doubt and no escape. The only question for them is WHEN and HOW.

"Well then… I'll be going on ahead…" Tyrant then disappears.

In his wake stands Faux, smiling softly.

"Til we meet again, my friend"

DUEL ENDS

FAUX's HP: 2% vs TYRANT's HP: 0%

WINNER: FAUX

-:-

66th floor, 2 Kilometers of the city of NORGARD

"_Hm… what kind of sorcery is this…."_ Faux thought.

Faux is proud to say that he is a cursed individual. Luck has never been on his side…. EVER. To counter act this, he uses skill, strategy and tactics.

"_No no no…. this isn't luck…. is it? There is absolutely no way I would have foreseen this"_

Faux stands in the middle of a fairly small, white mansion. It has about 3 very fancy rooms, 1 dining hall, 1 guest room and a decent sized garden in the center of the compound. It is also situated on top of a small hill in the safe zone of the SENADON FIELD

But more importantly, it all belongs to Faux.

The mansion, named PHANTASMAGORIA, is a reward of a massive 83 chain quest that he started on the 2nd floor more than a year ago. Back then, he took quests at random for their rewards, and he never expected it to reach 83 quests on different floors.

The quest SLAY THE FROST KING ended 13 hours ago. Even after spending the night in his new found mansion, Faux still cant believe his luck.

It also came at a good time. Ever since he killed Tyrant in front of so many people, his infamy shot up to unbelievable levels. Not only THE ARMY, but also the normal players started chasing him down, like there was a bounty on his head. Thanks to that, he couldn't even enter a town by normal means anymore, thus exiling himself from the rest of the populace.

"_Lets stop thinking about it for now. I don't want to jinx it. Besides, I have visitors later"_

The mansion has an interesting function. No one can enter the mansion unless the owner allows them to. Those who don't have permission wont be able to come within 20 feet of the mansion. In addition to that, they would only see an abandoned ruin.

Very convenient for a wanted man like himself.

An hour passes when an alarm window appears in front of him, signifying that there are players approaching the mansion. He heads for the nearest window and spots a confused looking Argo. She's probably wondering if she came to the right place. Beside her was a person Faux did not expect to see.

"_Czarina? What the hell is she doing here?"_

While very much alarmed, Faux opens his menu and allows the two to enter the mansion. As expected, they were shocked by the sudden appearance of the mansion.

"Yo! Wazup" Faux greets them.

"Wow…. This is one interesting place you got here." Argo replies as she dashes in without a care. "Its awesome! How in gods name did you get it?"

Though Faux considered telling her, the torturous task of explaining all of the quests turns him off.

"Let's say I got lucky"

"Pfft! Yeah right! You are the unluckiest person in SAO. I bet it some sort of quest. Come on. Spill it! I'll pay you"

"No thanks Argo. I prefer to monopolize the bragging rights."

"Tch… spoilsport"

Faux ushers them into the garden and takes a sit on a nearby bench. "So… whats this meeting all about?"

Czarina, who has been silent, suddenly rushes towards Faux and hugs him with all of her might.

"_GOOD FREAKING LORD! SHE'S STRONG!" _He thought as his attempts at escaping her grip fails. As expected of the player with the highest STR stat.

As small sobs escapes her mouth, Czarina trembles violently

"don't leave me… please" she says in a small voice.

"Eh? What are you-"

"DON'T DIE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Faux is surprised at the very least. This is the first time he has ever seen his sister act so hysterical. Her eyes are bloodshot, and judging from her face, she hasn't slept a wink for god knows how long.

"2% HP! Both of you were fighting to kill! So scared! I thought you would die! No more! Please! Don't leave me! I'll be a good girl! I'll do anything you say!"

"Calm down will you! Rela-" Faux says, but Czarina ignores him.

"I know! You don't like THE ARMY, right?" She accesses her menu and presses the LEAVE GUILD button without a second thought. "There! Oh! You like rare items, right?"

A trade window opens, and much to Faux's surprise, Czarina unequips all of her items and drags everything she owns into the window, leaving her with nothing but her black underwear.

Ofcourse, Faux cancels the deal, but Czarina didn't seem to notice. "Hold on! I don't wa-"

"THERE! I gave you everything! EVERYTHING! You wont leave me now, right?! You'll be by my side, right?! Please don't leave me! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplea seplease-"

Faux hugs her tightly, desperately trying to reassure her that he is here. Czarina stops for a second, then cries loudly. He finally realizes that THIS is what the councilors warned his family about.

At the threat that her most important emotional support might disappear, Czarina started to break down.

-:-

1 hour later

Faux along with his guests stands outside the room where Czarina sleeps, waiting for Asuna, Lisbeth and Argo to finish whatever girls do when one of them collapses.

Truth be told, Faux invited some of his closest friends to celebrate/brag his newly acquired mansion. These people comprises of the members of the FRUURINKAZAN, Kirito, Lisbeth (who brought Asuna with her), Tamil, Andrei and Argo.

A few seconds later, the girls exists the room.

"How is she?" Faux asks

"Tired. Very Tired." Asuna replies. "I may not be a nurse, but I doubt anyone wont notice how stressed she is just by looking."

"So… what happened?" Klien asks

"That's what I want to know." Faux replies

"I might know something about that" Argo speaks.

Based on Argo, both of them were present during his duel with Tyrant. Both of them were horrified on how savage the battle was. When Faux' HP went down to red line, Czarina though he died, thus collapsing. When she woke up, Argo told her that Faux survived with 2% HP remaining. The next few days, Czarina searched desperately for Faux without rest. This went poorly, seeing how Faux had to hide himself from the vigilantes that were hunting him.

"Damn…. I didn't want her to see that… " Faux speaks. "Us PKKs tend to work up one hell of a frenzy when we're facing a strong opponent. I hate to say it, but we enjoy those types of savage combat."

"Then this is all your fault! You must understand how much she cares for you, right?" Asuna speaks with a very obvious hint of anger in her voice. "You made her worry to the point of a nervous breakdown! Please understand that there are people who cares for you"

Faux can do nothing but hang his head in shame. "Sorry… I just didn't want her to get dragged into my world. Its not a place for the weak minded"

"She wanted to share the burden with you! Who are you to decided that she cant take it?!" Asuna raises her voice.

"Please understand, Asuna. It is a duty of an older brother to guide his sister to the right path. Even if that brother has to get his hands dirty"

Asuna is in shocked. Not only her, but Argo and Lisbeth as well.

"err… Asuna? Whats wrong?" Faux asks in confusion.

"…. C-can I clarify something? What is your relationship with Czarina?" Asuna asks, as if dreading to hear the answer.

"She's my younger sister."

"Your REAL sister?"

"Yeah. She is my younger sister IRL." Faux replies, shocking the girls. "She didn't tell you?"

Silence.

The men are confused as hell at the girls reaction.

"A-Asuna? You're starting to scare me. What's wrong?" Faux asks.

"WAAAAAAAAA! T-this is too much for me to handle! Lisbeth you tell him!" Asuna says, surprising Lisbeth.

"W-what?! No way! This issue is way too sensitive for me! A-Argo, you do it!"

Argo smiles sadly "So that's how it is…. It must be hard for Ciz."

Faux already has a good idea why the girls are acting like idiots, but he remains silent, for once those words are said, they cant be taken back.

Suddenly, a pair of thin white arms wrap around Faux from behind.

"What an indecisive bunch." Said Czarina in her usual arrogant manner.

She is wearing a short black nightgown, making majority of the guys exceedingly happy. Though Kirito also gawked at her as well, Asuna and Lisbeth was not pleased, thus they smashed his eyes in. Ah… youth….

"Ciz…. I-is what he said true?" Lisbeth asks

Czarina smiles in an evil manner as she presses herself closer to Faux. Faux could see Klein wither in jealousy. "Are you deaf or is the news that much of a shock? Well, whatever. Yes its true. I am his biological sister"

"T-then.."

"Fu fu fu. It's exactly as you think."

"Can someone please tell me whats going on?!" Klein's inner bachelor roars.

Czarina stares at Klein "…. Who the hell are you?"

Klein stiffens. Maybe because a very pretty girl is asking for his name? "Im Klein. 24 years old. Bache-"

"No. On second thought, I don't want to know. Disappear, insignificant being." Czarina shoots Klein down…. Hard.

"_Ouch! Klein has been shot down a lot, but this one is especially harsh"_ Faux send Klein his condolence.

Klein proceeds to the nearest corner and cries.

Czarina turns her attention to Faux. " Let me answer the question raised by the insignificant being".

Czarina grabs Faux by the cheeks and forces his face closer to hers.

"_Oh crap!"_

Faux pulls away, but Czarina spears him into the ground. She holds his face down and forcefully kisses him, shocking everyone. A second later, Czarina slowly release Faux.

"If that wasn't enough to get through your thick skull, then I'll say it out loud. I, Czarina, love my older brother, Faux, even before SAO." She looks at everyone present. "Yes, I know it is immoral. I know it is even considered disgusting. But for being my protector, savior and best friend, this road is the one I'll inevitably take."

She turns to Argo. "There you have it Argo. My deepest, darkest secret has been laid bare. As a friend, I'm giving you a fair chance. I'm already on the starting line. Are you going to stand against me? Or are you going to scurry down the sewers like the rat that you are?"

Argo grits her teeth. "AH! DAMN IT! FINE!"

Argo suddenly lunges at Faux and kisses him before he could even react. Faux planned to push her away, but let's face it, who doenst want to get kissed by a loli bishoujo.

Argo slowly releases him as well. "I-I love you! I don't know when it started, and frankly, I don't care anymore. Just shut up and love me back"

Argo faces Czarina "Happy?"

"Very" Czarina replies.

Both of them turns to Faux.

"Now, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY" they said in unison.

.

.

.

"_Don't I have a say in this?!"_

-:-

Later that evening

Faux stares at the frozen wonderland from his window, all the while, trying to arrange his thoughts. The events earlier were very chaotic, to say the least. And the messages he received were not helping either.

**From Kirito**

**Who's the Gary Stus now?**

"_Making me eat my words huh? As expected of my mentor"_

**From Klein**

**YOU BASTARD! I SWEAR TO YOU NOW! I'LL MAKE A LARGER HAREM THAN YOU! MARK MY WORDS**

"_Good luck Klein. Though it's hopeless, you have my prayers…. and my sympathies."_

**From Tamil**

**Er…. I'm sorry?**

"_DAMN STRAIGHT! Your cards are a danger to all beings on earth! BURN IT!"_

**From Andrei**

**Don't forget to use rubber**

"_I normally don't like profanity, but for you my friend, I'll make an exemption. FUCK YOU!"_

**From Lisbeth**

**Both of them are good people. Take good care of them.**

"_I've been doing that for almost 2 years now. For what its worth, you can count on me."_

Faux tired beyond words. He decides to hit the hay and sort the mess tomorrow. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door. There are only 3 people in the mission. Including Faux, there was also Czarina who left THE ARMY and had nowhere else to go, and Argo who demanded to stay for no good reason.

"_Im sooooo tired… cant this wait till tomorrow?"_ Faux sighs. _"Oh who am I kidding. Of course not! I don't have a say in anything these days…. *sigh*"_

The moment he opens the door, he gets speared. Czarina lifts him and throws him on the bed.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THA-" The two beauties in front of him, silences Faux.

Czarina was wearing a small red see through night gown with matching red lacy underwear.

Argo sports a simple yet cute white underwear with a small pink ribbon in the middle.

Argo timidly crawls up the bed and snuggles beside the very confused Faux. "S-sorry…. We did say we're going to make you take responsibilities."

"Oi! Do you understand what you're doing here." Faux asks in futility

Czarina forcefully kisses Faux. "Ofcourse we do Ani-sama. For me, I've been dreaming of this day for years. I'll wont take no for an answer."

This time, Argo forces Faux to kiss her. "Sorry Faux. I don't think you'll be sleeping tonight"

-:-


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

The end of THE WORLD

-:-

52nd floor FOREST OF LILIES

SAO is a death game, that much MARCUS is sure. He didn't survive through all this time for nothing. But right now, he and his guild, CREAM BELL (it's a stupid name, but their leader insisted on it), are running for their lives.

"Damn it! What the hell is this guy?!" Said a muscular man named BRUTUS. "10 against 1 and we cant even make a dent on his HP?! This is crazy!"

"SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING!" replied a well endowed female named MILLEFUEILLE. She is the guild leader of CREAM BELL and Marcus' in game wife. She turns to Marcus. "Don't worry honey, we'll make it through this, I promise."

Marcus smiles and nods.

"_You'll make it through this Mille….. I won't "_

Yes…. To Marcus, his death has been sealed a long time ago. That monster took down 7 of their party members in under 10 seconds. What hope can the 3 of them stand against such power?

And truth be told, Marcus has no intention of running from his fate, but Mille insisted that they run. Though he is flattered at her dedication, that will not change the inevitable.

Suddenly, a hooded figure lands in front of them. He no longer wore his trade mark white hood, but is replaced by a dark blue ASSASSIN CREED styled robe. Even if he changed his appearance, the familiar relaxed blood lust only belonged to one person.

"FAUX" Marcus says in such a calm manner that even he was surprised.

"Yo Marcus. Its been a while" Faux replies. There was no hate in his voice, nor rage, no pain. Its as if he was greeting Marcus like an old friend.

"Yeah, its truly been a while. Its been more than a year, hasn't it?"

"Right you are." Faux takes out his dagger. "You know why I'm here, right?"

"*sigh*…. Yeah I know…. Make-" Marcus says, but is suddenly cut off when Mille charges at Faux, swinging her warhammer like a madman.

"MARCUS! RUN!" She screams desperately.

But as expected... she is outmatched.

The dagger and the hammer meets, and much to everyones surprise, the hammer is blown to bits. Without pause, Faux slices Mille's right hand, then her left hand, then both of her legs.

This is no battle. This is a one sided massacre.

"DAMN YOU!" Brutus chargers with his two hand sword.

However, the result was still the same. Faux changes target and thrusts his dagger at the incoming enemy. Brutus blocks, but the dagger goes through the sword (destroying it in the process), and rips one of his arms off. Faux jumps back and throws hurls a dagger at Brutus, causing him to fall face first in the ground. Brutus struggles to get up, but for some reason, his body refuses to move.

"P-paralysis?!" Brutus says in shock.

"Trust me, its better to eat dirt than the alternative." Faux says as he walks past Brutus and heads straight for Marcus.

"DAMN IT MARCUS! RUN!" Millefueile screams in desperation, all the while trying to stop her tears from flowing.

But Marcus doesn't move. He calmly stares at Faux. "So… what now?"

"Hmm… I don't know… Arent you going to run? Lady Boss man seem very keen on getting your butt to safety." Faux replies as he points his thumb at Millefueile

"Not really. Its not like I can escape you anyway"

"Correct!" Faux replies with his chest puffed out.

"…. Oi…. That's mean you know?"

"Whatever. So? What do you want to do now?" Faux asks

Marcus thinks for a second. "How about this…. Fight me in an awesomely heroic mode. Make me look cool in my final moments. A heroic last stand, just like those 300 spartans"

"Hmm… I guess that would do. Unfortunately, I cant comply"

"Eh? Why? Are you going to turn away a dying man's last request?"

Faux sigh." Its not like that man… To be blunt, you are TOO WEAK. If I fought you seriously, you'll die in the first strike. Hell, even if I fought you unseriously, you'll still die in one strike."

"Oi! I know I'm not a frontliner, but a lvl 72 tank can still take a beating."

"*Sigh* fine…. Suite yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Faux and Marcus takes up position about 5 meters away from each other. Marcus readies his spear while trying to read his opponent. As he expect, Faux doesn't even bother raising his guard, clearly underestimating him.

"_Tch! You cocky bastard!"_ Marcus charges and executes the one hit spear skill STINGER.

To his surprise, Faux takes the thrust without even blocking.

FAUX's HP: 99.99% (DOT: too small to display)

Both of them look at the spear in silence.

"ha.. ha ha… ha…. Well, this is awkward.." Marcus says in futility.

Faux smiles sadistically and begins bashing Marcus with his bare hands. At this point, Marcus can now understand the overwhelming difference between them. For his level, Marcus has the best equipment he could possibly get, yet each punch shaves off 8-10% of his life. After taking 5 punches, Faux hits him with full force, blasting him back 5 meters.

MARCUS' HP: 48%

Faux capitalizes. He unsheathes his dagger and slices off both of Marcus' legs.

MARCUS' HP: 3%

Faux stands next to him. "Do you get it now? I outclass you in every way possible."

Marcus laughs in futility. "Man… what a crappy way to go. Well whatever. I guess it was inevitable. Make it quick will you?"

"NO! NONONONONO!" Millefueile desperately tries to move, using her chin to drag herself to them.

Faux watches her silently, then speaks to Marcus. "Tell me... whats your kill count?"

"*sigh*, Zero. I never did have the stomach for that crap. All of the PK's called me weakling and stuff. It was pretty degrading. But you probably know that already."

"Well… yeah, I do." Faux sighs. "Then why did you hang out with the PKs back then?"

Marcus looks away in shame. "Y-you know how Flandre is."

"ah… I see… she does have a way with words."

" Yeah, that's how it is…. So what now? Are you going to kill me? If so, make it quick. I don't particularly enjoy making Millefueile suffer, but accomplices of a crime are just as guilty as the criminals themselves."

"Nah… I'll let you off the hook. Even I have a guilty conscience." Faux takes one last look at Millefueile, then leaves.

" OI! Why the hell did you even bother attacking us?!"

Faux stops and talks without turning back. " PK activities have taken a dive since the PK Crusades. I haven't killed anyone recently so…. You know…. I guess this is what unemployed people feel. Maybe all of this leveling up made me lose my edge? ….. Well, whatever. See you around Marcus."

"To speak of murder like it was nothing…. How do you even sleep soundly at night?" Marcus asks.

It was not a question filled with hate, nor horror, nor sadness. It was a question filled with confusion. Did the death of his comrade twisted him to such a horrible extent?

Without stopping or turning back, the blue robbed assassin says the words that Marcus dreads.

"I don't."

-:-

Faux has done many things, and many of those are considered as great.

Some of those are heroic.

Some of those are chivalrous.

Some of those are kind.

Yet some of those are vile.

Yet some of those are cruel.

And at times, there are those things that make anyone lose their faith in humanity.

Yet all of those things can be considered as something great.

To add another one to his ever growing list of achievements is his new armor. The blue hooded Assassins Creed themed robe, THE MASTER. It is a reward for a hidden quest that every player has since they were level 1.

For a high level item, THE MASTER's armor rating is equal to his original armor, THE ALTAIR. Quiet a disappointment really. However, it made up for its stat bonuses. THE ALTAIR had a decent AGI bonus with a bit of STR, which normally fits the typical dagger user, but not Faux. THE MASTER, on the other hand, lacks any AGI bonuses and is traded for a phenomenal STR bonus.

"_I guess all those hours spent on grinding was worth something after all."_

He received THE MASTER 8 hours before he met Marcus by accident. Originally, he wanted to hunt ingredients for a new type of smoke bomb, but the opportunity to get some practice was too tempting to resist. This giving them the privilege of the first to see Faux in that armor…. They should be thankful.

But everything he has accomplished comes at a cost. For the rapid increase in power, his soul has been twisted into something inhuman. As a result, Faux's worst fear has actually came to pass. He is already at the point where human life holds no value to him.

Truth be told, he fears what will happen if he ever survives SAO. What if he cant control his urge to kill and becomes a psychotic killer IRL? The thought haunts him to no end. At times, the thought of jumping off the side of Aincard seems to be the right thing to do…

"_NO! Not yet! I still cant die yet!"_

Yes…. Just one more kill, then he put all of his efforts to clear the game. Whether he survives or dies those boss hunts is up to fate.

"_Besides…. Czarina is still here… that wont do. She has a bright future ahead of herself. No way I'll let her die here. And there's also Argo, she has to survive. I hate to say it, but I'm kind of fond of that rat. And Andrei too… and Klein, and Tamil, and Kirito, and Lisbeth, Asuna….. HAHAHA ….damn. Since when did I have so much people I want to protect?"_

For one last time, he gathers his resolve. He looks to the distance imaginary sun and swears to himself.

"_I will no longer falter"_

-:-

50th floor ALGADE

Agil's shop

"The blue demon that killed an entire Army squad was taken down by one player's dual-bladed fifty slash combo." Said a tall bald man named Agil, as he reads the news for all to hear. "Congratulations! You made the news! HAHAHAHA!"

"That's way too exaggerated." Kirito sighs. "And I've been getting chased around all morning by swordsmen and info dealers as a result."

"I don't want to hear it. I had to make a break for it too." Said Lisbeth sarcastically, carrying a box of weapons as she enters the room. " You said it was our little secret, and then you blew your own cover"

Kirito puffs his cheeks in displeasure.

"I don't get why you're so pissed about this. " Faux takes a sip of his sweet milk. "PWHA! That hits the spot!... Anyways, this is bound to happen. No use crying over spilled milk"

"Cant you show some sympathy?! You were in a similar situation a couple of months back!" Kirito replies.

"Sympathy?! Why?! Compared to what I went through, your situation is a cake walk!" Faux drains his sweet milk in one go. " Atleast you didn't have an angry mob of players screaming for your blood. Consider yourself lucky!"

"S-sorry"

Suddenly, Asuna bursts into the room. "What should we do, Kirito?!... Something bad has happened"

After calming down, Asuna explains her predicament.

Apparently, she tried to request a short leave from the KOB, and it was granted under one condition (presented by none other than the leader himself)…. Kirito has to fight Heathcliff. When asked for the reason why, Heathcliff refused to elaborate.

After hearing that, Faux stands up. "Sorry for bailing on you like this Kirito, but I don't want anything to do with Heathcliff."

"Hooo! Whats this? Don't tell me, the all too famous Faux THE MURDERER, is afraid of Heathcliff?" Lisbeath teasingly says.

Much to everyone surprise, Faux remains silent and thinks deeply. "Afraid…. Do I fear him? ….. maybe I do."

"E-eh? R-really?" Asuna replies. "Why? Though I don't really know much about him, I don't think he's a bad person."

"Hm… I'm not sure myself. But ever since I first met him, I've been getting a lot of bad vibes from him." Faux says.

A couple of hours after Faux cleared the 49th floor, Heathcliff appeared out of nowhere and invited Faux to join the KOB, knowing full well about Faux's reputation. This isn't the first time he offered Faux a place in the KOB, but Heathcliff never went out of his way to find him.

Alarm bells rang.

How could have Heathcliff possibly known where Faux was? He was in a safety zone in a middle of a yet t be explored dungeon.

It could be as Heathcliff theorized…. A mere coincidence. But never the less, Faux became excessively wary of the KOB's leader.

Ofcourse, he doesn't tell anyone about this.

"Well, whatever." Faux heads for the exit. "Hey Asuna, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"When Kirito loses, make sure to take a picture. As a 16 time loser, I would take great pleasure of seeing Kirito eat dirt"

Faux jumps out of the door as a variety of house hold items smashes into him. His life would have seriously dropped if they were outside a safe zone.

"DAMN IT! WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" Kirito roars

With an evil laugh, Faux exits the shop and disappears among the crowd.

-:-

75th Floor BOSS DUNGEON

The SILVER CROW guild was once known as the PK suppression group of THE ARMY, however, when their leader, Czarina, left the guild, it showed where their loyalty truly lies. The small 7 man unit, left THE ARMY and followed their headstrong leader wherever she may go.

Ofcourse, there are times that they doubt their leader's judgment. This is one of those times.

The race to find the boss room has already started, thus it is no surprise that they are amongst the ones in the front line. It is also a common practice to add a couple of outsiders to help speed things along. That is why they currently have 2 extra partymates.

The first one is a familiar face, Argos THE RAT. As usual, she is more of a leech than an actual party member. However, since she has helped them out a lot in the past, they are willing to help her out in kind.

On the other hand, the other one is a bit questionable. Even with Czarina and Argo's seal of approval, they simply cannot calm down when their ex-main target is their current party member. Yes… Faux the PKK is currently their party member for the very first time.

However, despite their discomfort, they cannot deny that he is very capable in group combat.

Their current enemy, the 10 foot tall field boss name, GREAT UNCLEAN ONE, swings its sword wildly.

"Tanks! Forward!" Czarina commands.

2 shield wielders steps forward and blocks the sword. The ones behind quickly moves to the side of the enemy and attacks. Czarina twirls on approach and launches the monstrous sword skill ROUGH DIVIDE at its leg, staggering it in the process.

GREAT UNCLEAN ONE's HP: 51% (19% damage)

In one fluid motion, Faux launches the meteor hammer, wrapping around the enemy's neck, then he launches himself at the enemy's face. He then executes AIR ASSASSINATE, stabbing it in the eye. Without a pause, he uses PENTA STAB at the UNCLEAN ONE's eye, dealing maximum damage.

GREAT UNCLEAN ONE's HP: 34% (17% in total)

The enemy grabs Faux and hurls him at the nearest wall like a rag doll.

"BE FREEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee eee-" Faux screams until he smashes into a wall with a disgusting SPLAT sound effect.

FAUX's LIFE: 83%

This is one of those many comical displays where the members of the SILVER CROW asks themselves, _"This is Faux THE MURDERER? Realy?"_

"Ani-sama!" Czarina turns her attention back to the enemy. "You…. YOU WILL SUFFER! Everyone! I'm using GOD SLAYER! Cover me!"

As instructed, the SILVER CROW's form a defensive around Czarina. 2 shielders up front and blocks the GREAT UNCLEAN ONE. 2 spear wielders behind the shielders attack without fear of retaliation, thanks to the tanks. And while the UNCLEAN ONE is distracted, a dagger user and a rapier user rush in and out of the protection of the shielders, constantly harassing the enemy to no end.

It was an effective aggressive defense strategy. It keeps the opponent within range for the most powerful sword skill in SAO…..

The SILVER CROW's take the beating for 10 whole seconds…. Until…

"Charging complete! Fall back everyone!" Czarina commands.

The SILVER CROW's move back, leaving Czarina to face the boss alone…. But Czarina was not worried. No, it is the contrary. She actually has an arrogant smile on her face, and the main source of her arrogance is her fully charged sword skill. Instead of the simple glows of te standard sword skills, her blade is covered with soft smoke-like light.

"COME AT ME!" Czarina roars.

The GREAT UNCLEAN ONE executes the 2 hit sword skill POUND. Surprisingly, Czarina takes it without dodging or blocking.

CZARINA's HP: 28% (32% Damage)

Even with the bone crushing damage she received, her arrogant smirk only grew wider. "Preparation complete."

Her sword is now covered by violent lightning, a sign that the GREAT UNCLEAN ONE is at his end.

"DIE!"

Czarina throws her entire body into the swing.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion rocks, not only the ground, but the entire floor as well. The skill was so strong that it wouldn't surprise them that the entire boss dungeon felt shock.

GREAT UNCLEAN ONE's HP: 0% (97% Damage. Overkill)

This is Czarina's ultimate sword skill and is considered by many as the most powerful sword skill, GOD SLAYER. It is skill only available to those who have fully mastered the ZWEIHANDER skill. To activate the skill, strict conditions must be met.

First, the user enters a sort of paralyzed state during a 10 second charging time. The user can freely cancel the charging state, but if she moves from the spot where she started charging, all of the charge will be lost. This condition is the main reason why Czarina requires her party to cover for her.

Second, after the 10 second charge, any damage she receives will be tripled and added to the damage of GOD SLAYER. This is why Czarina's items are as good as the best tanks in the game.

Finaly, the user's HP must be below 30% in order to execute the skill. This makes it extremely risky to use, thus must be used wisely.

Ofcourse, there are a few drawbacks to the GOD SLAYER.

The main drawback is the remaining life of the user. With less than 30% HP, the risk of dying is insanely high, thus forcing the user to fall back and heal up.

There is also the issue of its short range. The user cannot move from the spot where she charged the skill, lest losing all of the charge. The only time the user can move is when she attacks using GOD SLAYER.

Finally, there is also a ridiculous 5 minute skill cooldown, preventing the user on using it in rapid succession. It also puts further emphasizes to the user that she MUST fall back.

This skill is why Czarina earned a new nickname on top of THE EMPRESS. Now, she is normally called Czarina THE GOD SLAYER.

-:-

Faux breathes a sigh of relief and leans back on the wall he crashed into. As he watches the end of the field boss battle, a massive weight is lifted off his chest.

"They are good, aren't they?" Argo sits hands him a high grade potion, then sits beside him.

"Yes…. Yes they are." Faux downs the potion in one go.

For nearly 2 years now, Faux has constantly worried about Czarina's safety. He would even go as far as pay Argo 2000 gold per day just to keep him updated on Czarina's well being. However, now that he had seen the efficiency and skill of the SILVER CROW's, Faux is confident that Czarina will remain safe.

"Ani-sama! Are you alright?" Czarina worriedly runs to him.

"I'm fine. I'm tougher than I look." Faux replies. "But I must say… your guild is very good. They're probably just a level or two away from the KOB. "

"Ofcourse! There is no place in my guild for weaklings." Czarina puffs her chest in pride. "When we stated out, all of them are the weakest, most incompetent bunch of misfits I have ever seen….."

With a motherly face, she watched her guild regroup themselves. "…. But they are my greatest comrades and my closest friends…. I refuse to let them be weak. So I made them strong, no matter what."

"I see…." Faux smile softly. "Can I talk them?"

"Hm? Sure." Czarina calls her guild over. " It seems Ani-sama has some words for you guys, so you better be thankful. Listen and don't interrupt….. or else!"

"_Wew…. Harsh."_

And as expected, the 6 members of the SILVER CROW's shifts uncomfortably, possibly out of fear for their lives.

Much to everyone's surprise, Faux kneels down and bows with his face on the floor. "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!. To be beside Czarina in her times of need, that is what you have been doing… and that is what I have failed to do. For keeping her safe from harm, and for keeping her alive and well, I cant thank you enough for what you have done."

Everyone is silent.

Who would have thought that he would humble himself to this extent?

Either way, this is Faux's honest feelings, and he is not ashamed to show it.

Much to Faux's surprise, a small round of applause is heard. As he raises his head, the SILVER CROW's gathers around him and gives him a pat in the back. This is probably the first time that people gathered around him with no intention of killing him.

Czarina gently wraps her arms around Faux's neck.

"Ani-sama…. I really really do love you." She says with a sweet smile.

She slowly draws her face closer to his, a clear sign that she wants to kiss him. Ofcourse, as a man, Faux does not resist….. but a palm block her and forcefully pushes her away.

"That's as far as you go, you incestuous girl." Said the displeased Argo. "You were the one that made the NO FLIRTING IN PUBLIC RULE. I suggest you stick to it"

"Agro…. You actually dare stand in the way of my romance?!" Czarina draws her sword. "You've got some nerve for an A-cup loli"

"A-cup?! Oh that is it!" Argo opens her menu and presses a couple of buttons.

Faux didn't have to see to know what she did. She just sent a duel invitation to Czarina. Ofcourse, Czarina accepts.

"_Oh damn…. This looks bad…."_

Oh…. On a completely unrelated note, Faux has absolutely no problems with the A-cup breast size. He also has no problems with lolis either.

…. Anyways, back to the situation at hand.

Argo unequips her cloak and puts up her dukes. "Even if I was fine with sharing Faux, I knew I had to settle things with you."

"Sharing? HA! Don't make me laugh! I'm the one who decided to let you near Ani-sama! You should drop down on your knees and thank me for my generosity!" Czarina replies arrogantly.

Out of fear for their safety, Faux speaks up. "Hold on! Cant you two just get along? There is no reason to fight"

"SHUT IT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, SO SHUT UP!" Czarina roars

"_How in gods name is this MY fault?! This so unfair! I demand a detailed explanation!"_

This time, Argo raises her voice. "Unrelated people should sit back and shut up!"

"_Now I'm unrelated?! DAMN IT! Do I even have human rights?!"_

Before Faux could voice his thoughts, the countdown reaches zero, and the duel begins.

-:-

3 hours later

The SILVER CROWs continued their search the boss room, with Faux, Argo and Czarina taking the lead. Faux walked in between the two, acting like a wall that separates them from each other.

'_Why would he do that?'_ you ask?

The answer is simple….

"Nyahahaha! I just love it when cocky girls like you are smashed into your place!" said Argo in a boastful tone

To Faux's left, Czarina grits her teeth in anger. "Find rope. Hang rat. Kill slowly. Painfully."

Yes…. Despite the gap of nearly 10 levels between the two, Argo won the duel against Czarina. It is a testament to the skill and knowledge of the beta testers.

Argo fought smart and kept the battle at extreme close range, preventing the slower Czarina to mount any form of attack. Argo threw a massive barrage of punch and kicks, forcing Czarina to go on the defensive. Ofcourse, Argo's attacks did little damage to the heavily armored Czarina, but she had an ace up her sleeve that ended the duel.

The moment Czarina shielded her face, Argo slipped behind her and performed a powerful GRAPPLE SKILL called NECK BREAKER, snapping Czarina's neck and dropping her HP to the 50% mark.

The GRAPPLE skill is only available when the UNARMED skill goes beyond 800 points. The abilities under GRAPPLE consist mostly of counters that places the CRIPPLE status effect, or powerful one hitters that can literally kill the opponent in one go.

The main drawback of the skills is its range, requiring the user to be dangerously close to the opponent. As a lightly armored player, Argo tend to avoid using the GRAPPLE skills all together, simply because getting close enough has more unnecessary risks than rewards.

The skills also have strict prerequisites in order for it to be executed. For example, the NECK BREAKER skill can only be used on the neck, and it must be executed from behind the target.

Though very powerful, it requires too much effort to meet the requirements, thus considered as impractical in most situations. It is especially useless against monsters.

…. Anyways, ever since Argo won the duel, she has constantly rubbing it in on Czarina's face. In Faux's opinion, it is a valuable experience for Czarina to lose. It will teach her the lesson that not all things go our way.

After a few minutes of trekking through the dungeon, the group finally spots the door to the boss room. Just outside the door stood 10 players, a sign that it might be a scouting party.

The SILVER CROW approaches the group.

"Good day. I am Czarina of the SILVER CROW guild. If you're going to scout for the boss, we would like to join in" Czarina said in a formal manner.

"NO! DON'T GO IN! ITS TOO DANGEROUS!" Said a member of the 10 man party.

Czarina looked at him questioningly. "Excuse me? Last time I checked, we are all trapped in a death game called SWORD ART ONLINE. If those are the words of a coward, then I suggest you leave the matter to me. My guild will scout the boss for you."

"You're misunderstanding something here. We already sent 10 people in there. The moment they go to the center of the room, the door slammed shut…. We couldn't go in… and from the looks of it, they couldn't come out…. 5 minutes later, it opened and no one was in there…." A muscular knight replied in a cracking voice. "We already sent someone to check the MOMUMENT OF LIFE on the 1st floor….. none of them survived…"

"WHAT?! Why didn't they use the teleport crystals?!" Czarina replies in shock.

"We don't know…."

A tense silence fills the air for a couple of seconds.

"Its an anti-crystal field…. Just like the 74th boss…." Faux says in a grim tone, shocking everyone in the process.

In front lines of SAO, the TELEPORT CRYSTAL serves as the most important safety net of all. Being unable to use it in a place where retreating is no longer possible, it wouldn't be a surprise if some people would have second thoughts.

Faux turns around. "This problem cant be solved easily. If we want to even have a chance at winning this, we're going to need all the help we can get."

-:-

55th FLOOR

GRANDUM

KNIGHTS OF THE BLOOD HEADQUARTERS

"_Wow…. That's a lot of high level players…" _Faux thought as he scans the hall below him.

Faux sat on a nearby window just above the meeting hall, away from any prying eyes.

'Why is he hiding?' You ask?

It is very simple. Even after the drop of PK activities, his infamy has not left the minds of the masses, and its all thanks to that public execution of PKK Tyrant.

"_Wew…. What a scary place…"_

Nearly every guild in the frontlines is currently gathered around a table, and all of them are highly skilled, battle hardened veterans. So it's no surprise that Faux, the most hated player in SAO, is VERY reluctant to mingle with the group.

Of course, there are also a bunch of friendly faces amongst the clearers. He can spot Klein and the members of the FUURINKAZAN, Czarina and her SILVER CROW, and of course, Heathcliff and his KOB.

Surprisingly, Asuna and Kirito are nowhere to be found, though he did hear a rumor of them getting married.

"_In the uncertain times they live in, holding to those they love is much more important than it has ever been"_ Tamil once told him that.

During the past few months of no PKK activities, those words did haunt him for a while.

Does Faux have someone he loves?

Yes he does. There are 2 of them to be precise, namely Czarina and Argo. But he does question just how much he loves them.

If its for Czarina, he is willing brave any danger, even if it costs him his life…. But that resolution is questionable as well. Even if Czarina didn't confess her love to him, he would risk his life for her anyway.

And then there is Argo. Truth be told, he considers her as his best friend. He is most relaxed when he is with her, yet until recently, he has never seen her as any more than a very close friend. And there is a question of her age….. She would charge 87 million gold whenever he asks for her age….. He dreads the possibility that he could have become a criminal without even knowing about it…

Faux cant help but feel like a scum. He is actually dreading that his half assed definition of love might be hurting the two.

"_Well, let's focus on the task at hand for now."_

Heathcliff addresses the crowd. "As you all know, the next floor boss has been found. Disturbing reports suggests that not only does it trap those who enter, it also has an anti-crystal field, rendering our lifelines useless."

As expected, the room becomes tense. As most of them heard this news for the first time, it is understandable that their spirits are shaken. Now more than ever, the fact sinks in….. THIS IS A DEATH GAME.

Heathcliff clears his throat. "For this battle, I would like to hear the thoughts of the one who deduced this information. Faux, step forward if you please."

"_Le Wut?!"_

Heathcliff was looking up, straight at him, as if knowing that he was there the entire time. Thanks to his unnecessary words, the entire room is focused on him now.

"_Damn you Heathcliff! Are you trying to kill me?!"_

Faux sighs and hopes for the best. Faux jumps down and lands on the table.

"So…. What do you want from me Heathcliff?" Faux said in a cold voice, making sure not to reveal anything to the red knight.

Heathcliff looks at him in mild surprise. "Before that…. I would like to ask something. Your armor seems to be new. What is its name?"

"Its name is THE MASTER. But why does it matter?" Faux replies coldly.

Heathcliff chuckles. "No… its nothing. Back to the topic. What do you suggest we do in this situation?"

Faux thinks for a bit. " No info to go on…. And no way to gather any of it…. Then there's only one choice. Gather the largest force we can muster and prepare to die."

The crowd is shocked by his choice of words.

"O-oi… did you really need to say it like that?" Klein speaks up.

Faux sighs. "Yes Klein… I have to put it like that. At this point, the chance of dying has gone way up. Only the willing should come…. Coz this might be the last boss for most of us."

The shock finally sets in as the front liners gathers up their resolve. The room is silent for a few seconds until Heathcliff spoke up.

"Rest up and prepare. We will meet at the teleport gate in COLLINIA at the 75th floor. The operation begins at one o'clock tomorrow. Dismissed"

-:-

6th floor GRAVEYARD OF ANGELS

Faux sits on top of a fallen statue of an angel, while sipping on a hot cup of sweet milk. Unfortunately, it does not help improve his slightly foul mood. Theres way too much stuff that he's been worrying about, which constantly keeps Faux's stress levels at maximum.

His degrading humanity….

His confusing love life (even after all this months, he still cant believe that he even has a love life)….

A powerful floor boss that they have no info about….

And now this….

"Andrei…. Is this information serious?" Faux rubs his forehead in frustration. The timing of this info is ridiculously horrible.

Andrei sits on a nearby tomb while eating a strawberry cheese cake."Comrade, I can only tell you what I overheard. What you make of it is entirely up to you."

You're probably wondering why the two are in such a low level floor. The answer is simple. The best place to have a secret conversation is in a floor that is nearly devoid of life. Such places are found on the 2nd to the 10th floor.

Anyways, Andrei arranged the meeting because he was able to get information that even the best info dealers don't know about….. Information of the PK remnants.

It happened in ALGADE during the floor boss meeting. Andrei received a massive wave of orders, thus was forced to shop for the materials he didn't have. Just as he was about to buy one last ore for his smithing, he spots a very familiar looking PK amongst the confusing back alleys of ALGADE.

Flandre and a group of unfamiliar faces where huddled together in one dark alley. Andrei took a chance and eavesdrops on their conversation.

From what he could hear, there is to be a gathering of PKs at the ETHEREAL FOREST of the 60th floor. From the looks of things, the group are a bunch of newbie PKs that want to restore the LAUGHING COFFIN back to its glory days. Apparently, the group is trying to convince Flandre to join in.

"After that, they moved to a different location." Andrei sighs. "Apologies comrade, but that's the best my abilities can do. "

"Don't sell yourself short man… this info is gold." Replied Faux. "This shows us how dire the PKs situation really is."

"Indeed. By timing their gathering with the floor boss raid, the risk of being discovered by high level players is non-existent." Andre face turns serious. "But there also lies the problem. This is Flandre we're talking about here."

Faux drains his sweet milk. "Got that right… This could be a chance of a life time…. Or…"

"A well thought off trap. " Andrei finishes. "But right now, that is not what you should worry about though."

"Oh? What should I be worrying about then?"

"What are you going to do? Go to the floor boss and protect Czarina? Or extract your vengeance on Flandre?"

Faux facepalms "… Nuts!"

"…Think carefully, my friend. This decision is something you may regret"

-:-

75th floor COLLINIA

The next day on the gathering place of the floor boss raid.

Faux leans on a nearby wall like a puppet without a puppeteer, desperately trying to sort out his thoughts. His mind is divided between two forces that have driven him to where he is now.

To protect or to destroy.

In one hand, Faux has grown fond of a lot of people in his time in SAO. Each and every one of them are valuable friends and comrades. He would gladly risk his life to protect them. Following that logic, he should join the floor boss raid to protect not only Czarina, but also Klein and the FUURINKAZAN, Kirito and Asuna.

On the other hand, there is that one _little incident_ that nearly drove him insane in anger. The murder of his best friend Gino Karasuba AKA GAWAIN and all because of a stupid reason of BECAUSE ITS FUN. Faux cannot and will not accept it. That's why he trained like a mad man, risking and gaining more than anyone else. He endured all of the strife for that one moment when he can watch Flandre die by his blade. Following that logic, he should do what he does best…. Kill.

These thoughts have been swimming in his mind since yesterday. Thanks to that, he didn't get a wink of sleep.

"…_.. where's Doraemon when you need him"_

As he dwelled in deep thought of the convenience of having his very own Doraemon, he didn't notice Czarina and Argo.

"Oi… You alright Faux?" Argo pokes him in the head

"Dont you just love it when people asks _are you alright? _when your obviously not alright?" Faux replies sarcastically.

Argo puffs her cheeks in displeasure. "WELL someone is in a bad mood"

"Ah… well… sorry about that. I didn't intend it to be so offensive." Faux replies. "I just didn't get any sleep last night."

"Ho… that's rare. For the carefree Ani-sama to be losing sleep over something…. And here I thought nothing fazes you" Czarina comments

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have my fair share of sleepless nights" Faux replies

Czarina takes the sit on the right and leans her body to his. "So… what's wrong?"

Argo takes a sit on his left, then uses his lap as a pillow. "I suggest you tell us what's bothering you. I'll even give you a 30%-50% discount…. depending on the advice of course."

"…_. You greedy rat!" _Faux thought. Ofcourse, he knows that this is a very Argo style of comforting, but he is a natural born penny pincher, thus he must react, even if its only in his mind.

He weighs the possible outcomes of staying silent or telling them honestly. After a second of silence, He decides to come out clean. He tells them about Andrei's info on Flandre, and the internal conflict that has kept him up at night.

Surprisingly, the two laughs.

"Fu fu fu. Ani-sama, I'm not the little girl you once needed to protect. You've already seen what me and my guild can do." Czarina snuggles on his shoulder" Do what you have to do. This time, its my turn to protect you"

With those words said, Faux's course is set.

"hmm…. Since I didn't get to give you any advice, I'll let you off with a 99% discount." Argo says

"Oi! I'm still paying?!" Faux replies

"Ofcourse! My mere presence is expensive enough. NYAHAHAHA!"

"_You damn rat!"_

Argo stands up and presses her forehead to his. "Come back alive. We're waiting for you."

"Roger that" Faux stands and with one last good bye, he heads out.

However….. one last obstacle remains.

"Faux… where are you going?" asks Heathcliff who was blocking his path.

Instantly, the eyes of everyone gathered focuses on the 2 unique skill user.

"I'm passing on this boss." Faux walks past him.

"HOLD ON!" Said one of the KOBs. "You cant be serious?! This boss raid requires all the muscle we can get! You even said so yourself! You cant just leave!"

Faux ignores him and walks on.

"Are you afraid Faux?" Heathcliff says but once again. "… no… I doubt you're still capable of fearing anything"

"Whatever you say Heathcliff." Faux replies as he heads for the teleporter.

However, before he could leave…..

"I cannot force you to come, so you may go." Heathcliff then says something completely unnecessary. "However…. It would have been very comforting to have another level 100+ amongst our numbers"

Faux stops, just like everyone else. Faux turns around and shoots Heathcliff a glare filled with killing intent.

Indeed, this new must have been a shocker to everyone. Level 100+ is still an unknown realm for most. With all the stuff that's happening, no one can blame anyone for not asking the question WHAT IS THE LEVEL CAP IN SAO?

Even though they are still on the 75th floor, the strongest clearers are mostly in the level 90 to 99 range. Thus, it should be obvious that as they reach the higher floors, their levels should easily exceed 100.

For now however, there seems to be 2 level 100+ players in SAO.

"How did you know?" Faux replies with a silent voice. Though he could already guess what Heathcliff will answer, he asks anyway.

Heathcliff smiles calmly. " THE MASTER is an armor awarded from the hidden quest ADEPTUS SUPREMUS. By reaching level 100, the quest rewards the player by upgrading his/her current armor and renaming it as THE MASTER. Just so you know, my armor also bares the same name."

No one is really surprised though. Faux hates to admit it, but Heathcliff is the strongest player in SAO.

"So… what now?" Faux asks

"Nothing really. You may leave whenever you like." Heathclff replies. " But do remember this, two graves are dug when you curse a person."

Faux leaves.

"_A Jigoku Shoujo quote huh? Nice choice. After all, everyone in the PK world is bound to go to hell."_

-:-

60th FLOOR ETHEREAL FOREST

2 million gold.

Just to ensure the death of one person, Faux spent more than a month in material hunting and 2 freaking million gold. If his wallet is to be personified, it would have strangled him to death by now.

"_I don't know if I'll be able to get this much bombs again .This better be damn worth it!"_

This is the first time Faux has ever manage to get the drop on Flandre, thus he is pulling out all the stocks. Leaving nothing to chance, he set up an extremely large killzone with his newest, strongest and most expensive bombs.

Well… truth be told, 2 million gold doesn't really make a dent on his 31,529,708,364 fortune, however, no PK is worth a single gold…. Yes, not even Flandre is worth it, yet Faux decided to use 2 million gold to kill her. She should feel honored.

Suddenly, Faux hears footsteps from afar.

With his LISTENING skill at a MASTERED level, Faux can hear clearly as far as half a kilometer way, which is exceeds the range of the SEARCHING skill. Thanks to the high audio quality, Faux can guess the enemy's gender, numbers and identities.

Faux concentrates and pushes his LISTENING skill to the max.

Based on what he can hear, there are about 6 people in the approaching group, 5 men and 1 female. He spots a familiar overly formal speaking style, a clear sign that Flandre is there. And much to his horror, Flandre was talking to someone that should not be there….. PoH.

"_Damn it! They're too early! The gas needs a minute to cover the entire area."_

Faux hides behind a tree and waits, praying that the gas can cover the area before the PKs can reach his location.

Unfortunately, this don't go according to plan. The PKs enter the area 15 seconds ahead of schedule.

"_AH DAMN IT! No choice! I'll just have to buy some time!"_

He takes a peek from behind the tree and chooses a lightly armored player as his target. The moment they entered his range, fe activates JORMUNGAND and launches it at his target, straggling him by the neck.

"_GET OVER HERE!"_

The target is dragged towards him. At the same time, Faux executes 1 hit running stab type skill STINGER and meets him on a head on collision.

TARGET HP: 21% (STINGER DAMAGE: 34% : COLLISION DAMAGE: 45% )

Without missing a beat, Faux pulls out his dagger and executes the 5 hit PENTASTAB, killing the target in the processes.

The PKs (even Flandre) are in shock. They clearly didn't expect to be ambushed here. After a second, they finally regain their composure.

"Oh my God! He killed KENNY!... YOU BASTARD!" Roared one of the unknown PKs

"…_.. His name was KENNY? …. Oh the sad South Park irony of it all…"_

"Faux-sama! How I've missed you so!" Flandre runs towards him completely unarmed, however, PoH quickly blocks her path.

"Stop…. Something is not right" PoH takes out his all too famous MATE CHOPPER.

Flandre was not pleased. "You dare stand in the way of our long awaited reunion?! Know your place, insolent whelp!"

"Shut up and think." PoH replies calmly. "Faux never fights fair, especially if he's up against a group. Yet here he is… standing in front of us. He's probably luring us to where he's standing."

"_Damn that PoH. He's sharp."_

With those words, the 5 PKs became cautions. They take out their weapon and slowly approaches him.

Suddenly, a weird smell akin to poop fills the air, stopping PoH in his tracks.

"This smell….. No way…. Methane?!" PoH looks at him in disbelieve.

The smoke bombs that Faux spread out earlier is called DRAGONS BREATH. It excretes a colorless gas for 10 minutes until the air smells like poop, signaling that the surrounding area is now a highly flammable death trap. If even a small fire is started, everyone within the area affected will burn.

From the looks of it, PoH understood what the smell meant. He wasted no time and rushes at Faux.

"_Too late"_

Faux smashes his meteor hammer and knife at each other.

Sparks fly.

The world burns.

-:-

"_BEAUTIFUL"_

That is the only though in Flandre's mind as she watched the scene in front of her. It's like watching an artist paint a masterful piece, or listening live to a world class singer.

As she watched Faux's scarlet ballet, her heart fluttered like she never thought possible. She watched as Faux displayed an intricate mix of a gracefully choreographed dance with an inhumanely savage fighting style. To top it all off, the burning stage on where he danced pushed its beauty to god like levels.

In awe, Flandre is rooted in the spot, and NOTHING can keep her from watching Faux's performance.

Her HP is dropping due to the burn effect

_IRRELEVANT_

Her comrades are dying one by one

_NEGLIGIBLE_

If she turned away even for just a second, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

In bathed breath, she watched her comrades be massacred by her beloved god of war

-:-

"DIE!"

Faux drowns an enemy in a torrent of bash, stabs and slashes, killing him in the process.

"_2 down, 4 more to go!"_

The DRAGONS BREATH indiscriminately burns everyone and everything in its path, which actually presents Faux with a couple of unique advantage.

First and foremost, all living beings are naturally afraid of fire. Despite knowing that they arent actually getting hurt, the enemies still panic at the sight of the massive firestorm. The only ones who are immune to that fear are PoH (who is currently chasing Faux around) and Flandre ( who seems to be crazy enough to simply watch as she burns to death.)

Second, even in within the massive firestorm, Faux doesn't need to see his enemy in order to kill them, thanks to his fully mastered LISTENING skill. By charging thru fire, Faux can successfully ambush the enemy from where the least expect him.

Finally, judging from the enemies, being on fire made him look extra terrifying. He probably looked like a vengeful spirit, seeing how the one he just killed fell on his butt at the sight of Faux.

Faux runs through the burning forest. Even with PoH hot on his trail, Faux is mindful of his surroundings for any targets.

"Damn it! I didn't sign up for this shit!" Said a whimpering voice somewhere to his right, just beyond a massive wall of fire.

Without hesitation, Faux launches his meteor hammer at the source of the sound. The moment he feels it latch to something, Faux jumps and pulls himself towards the target. He goes through the fire and executes AIR ASSASSINATION without even taking a good look at the target, killing it in the process.

"_Looks like he didn't notice the burn effect just took a massive chunk of his life…"_

Faux takes out a heal crystal and uses it on himself. _"last one…. Gotta make it count"_

The sound of running alerts Faux. He dodge rolls out of the way . Not a second later, PoH runs through the fire and slashes where Faux once stood.

"_tch, What a persistent guy!"_

Faux recovers his stance and prepares to launch an attack…. However, he suddenly receives a warhammer to the head from behind, causing him to stagger forward.

FAUX HP: 61% (Critical damage: 33%. Burn damage: 6%)

"_Damn it! This guy isn't panicing?"_

Faux spins like a top and executes CIRCULAR SPIKE, knocking away the attacker from behind. Unfortunately, PoH capitalizes and launches a barrage of sword skills at the unbalanced Faux.

"URA!" Faux roars as he attacks wildly, desperately trying to push the two back.

He swings the meteor hammer with full force at PoH, driving him back. He then turns his attention to the warhammer wielder and launches JORMUNGAND at his face, staggering him in the process. The warhammer wielder back pedals, desperately trying to balance himself.

"_Like hell I let you!"_

Faux chases him down, launching a beautifully savage dance that attacked him from unimaginable angles. The warhammer wielder desperately defends himself, but to no avail, as the merciless attacks drop his hp to zero. Under the familiar blue light, he disappears from the face of the world.

FAUX's HP: 21%

"…_. 4 down…. 2 to go…. I can still do this"_

From somewhere to his left, a modest round of applause is heard.

"Tres Bien! Masterfully done! Bravo Faux-sama!" Said Flandre with a face full of admiration.

"YOU BITCH!" Faux roars as he prepares to charge.

However… something unexpected happens.

WARNING

SYSTEM ANNOUCEMENT

The 3 warriors look to the sky and spots a familiar sight that they haven't seen since the first day of SWORD ART ONLINE.

Out of nowhere, a tender female voice announce the news that no one expects.

:-: WE WILL NOW BE ANNOUNCING AN URGENT NOTICE TO ALL PLAYERS :-:

"_This voice…. Its not Kayaba Akihiko?"_ Faux thinks in confusion.

More than anything, the voice sounded like a legitimate pre recorded message.

:-: THE GAME WILL NOW BE ENTERING FORCED ADMINISTRATION MODE. ALL MONSTERS AND ITEM SPAWNS WILL BE SUSPENDED. ALL NPCS WILL BE DISMISSED. THE HIT POINTS OF ALL PLAYERS WILL BE FIXED TO THEIR MAXIMUM AMOUNT :-:

Faux checks his HP, and true enough, his hp is fully healed. It doesn't even go down even with the still-active burning effect.

"_Oh no…. That means…."_

Faux turns his attention to Flandre. As expected, her HP doesn't drop.

"_No No No No No No No No NO!"_ Faux charges

:-: AINCARD STANDARD TIME, NOVEMBER THE SEVENTH, FORTEEN-FIFTY-FIVE, THE GAME HAS BEEN CLEARED :-:

PoH attacks Faux from the side, but Faux was prepared for him, as he violently smacks him in the head with JORMUNGAND, blowing him away.

:-: ALL PLAYERS WILL BE LOGGED OUT IN SEQUENCE. KINDLY WAIT AT YOUR CURRENT LOCATION :-:

In one fluid motion, Faux launches JORMUNGAND at Flandre, wrapping around her waist in the process. He jumps and pulls himself towards her.

Though surprised, Flandre drops her spear and welcomes Faux, much like how a woman would welcome her lover.

"Faux-sama! I love you oh so much!"

"DIE!"

Faux swings down

-:-

An unfamiliar white ceiling greets him as he opens his eyes. White cloth, white ceiling, white everything, the sound of air conditioning and the oh so familiar smell of disinfectant.

He knows this scene….

He has been here a couple of times before….

"_A hospital? Then… that means…."_

He tries to stand up, but a huge weight on his head keeps him down. He removes the THING on his head, but it took nearly every ounce of his strength to do it. He sat up and stared at the helmet looking THING.

"_A NERVE GEAR…."_

Finally, the shock sets in.

He is no longer in AINCARD…. He is back on the real world.

…. That also means…. That he failed….

He raised his right fist and hits the NERVE GEAR with all of his might

"_DAMN IT! DAMN IT TO HELL!"_

He hits it again and again and again.

No longer did he have the god-like strength of FAUX…. But he still has everything else that driven him to achieve that strength

All the sadness….

All the frustration…

All the hate…

All the rage….

All of it is channeled to his weak fist as he hits the NERVE GEAR.

"_FUCKING PIECE OF USELESS SHIT! IS 15 MORE SECONDS TOO MUCH TO ASK?!"_

He stops.

His muscle hurts from over exertion…. but it's nothing compared to the pain he felt inside.

His tears fall

"_Gino... I'm so sorry… I failed you"_

He cries his heart out.

Amidst his despair, a voice brings him back to reality.

"A…ni… sa…ma…?"

He looks to his right. Just a few meters from his bed, lies Czarina… no… Angelica, reaching her hand out to him.

Without a second thought, Faux…. Raphael goes to her, falling off his bed in the process with a nasty thud. Seeing how his legs are still paralyzed, Raphael crawls his way to Ange's bed.

With great effort, Raphael climbs up and faces Angelica. She looked thin, and her hair grew out a bit, but never the less, her ethereal beauty did not fade.

Without warning, Raphael hugs Angelica and sinks his lips into her. Angelica wraps her arms around him and hugs him tight.

"_I may have failed now, but this consolation prize is more than enough"_

-:-


	10. AUTHOR'S NOTES

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

Before I begin my rant, I'll answer an obvious question in your mind right now.

WHY THE HELL IS HE USING ONE ENTIRE CHAPTER FOR AN AUTHOR'S NOTE?! WHY NOT EVERY CHAPTER?

Well, my answer is actually 2 folds.

First. As an author that is incapable of making a satisfying chapter in 4000 words or less, I tend to over think stuff. Even a simple Author's Note requires me to use the same metal capacity as to writing a complicated battle scene. As such, I decided to simply abandon the chapter by chapter Author's Notes and let my story do all the talking

Second. This chapter is going to be the Author's Notes of the entire Arc, so expect that this will be a long one.

PS: The next time you'll see another Author's Notes is probably at the end of another Arc….. that is, if I still have the mental capacity and the patience to make it that far.

-:-

OKAY! LETS BEGIN THE AUTHOR'S NOTES

-:-

Ahem….

To start off, I must apologize for the whole incest thing. Prior to reading the SAO novels, I was actually watching **Yosuga No Sora** for the very first time, and the Sora route left one hell of an impression on me. Since the story was very good (and very controversial), I decided to add it in.

Lets face it, the whole incest thing is much more interesting than the typical, overused girl-meets-boy scenario.

For those who thought it was creepy/disgusting, I deeply apologize for that.

-:-

Next… Lets talk about the COUNTER GUARDIAN.

As most of you have already guessed, I am a big fanboy of TYPE MOON. Because of that, I incorporated a few things from the Nasuverse, namely the title COUNTER GUARDIAN, the Faux's dagger ( DEATH PERCEPTION, in homage to Tsukihime and Kara No Kyokai), and Faux himself (who emulates ARCHER and Emiya Kiritsugu to a certain extent).

Some people who arent Nasuverse fans may be confused why I chose COUNTER GUARDIAN as the title. Well then, let me quote something from the TYPE MOON WIKIA on what a COUNTER GUARDIAN is.

**Counter Guardian**, also called the **Protectors of Balance** or the **Beast of Alaya**, is a special category found within the group of existences known as Heroic Spirits. If a regular Heroic Spirit is someone who became a hero by his own power and is admired for that, then a Guardian is an unknown person who has achieved a great feat due to the assistance of an outside force. They are the ones who have made a pact with the World (Alaya) and offers his services as a Heroic Spirit after death in exchange for a miracle during his lifetime. While normal Heroic Spirits are a natural phenomenon that just happen to be beneficial to humanity, Counter Guardians are a strictly human phenomenon.

Due to their contract with Alaya, these heroes are incorporated as part of humanity's Counter Force (hence the name Counter Guardians) and are summoned whenever a factor in the extinction of mankind is detected. **They are the ones who appear on the site of great disasters in order to eliminate the source of that disaster and all those involved, even if the target of elimination are humans themselves**. Not bounded by moral values such as good and evil, they exterminate guilty and innocent alike in order to protect those completely unrelated.

Ahem… to most people, the words above is a load of complete gibberish. But on the second paragraph, the bolded text is the main reason why I chose COUNTER GUARDIAN as the title of my work. Faux and the rest of the PKK's kills those who are perceived as a threat to the general population as a whole. Because of their greatly distorted moral compass, the PKK's no longer care if the target is a man, woman or child.

If they are PK's, they will die.

-:-

Next. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but aside from chapter 5, all chapter titles are related to the 12 Major Arcanas of fortune telling. Which is why I like to call the COUNTER GUARDIAN ARC as the ARCANA ARC.

The main reason why chapter 5 is titled differently from the others is very simple…. I couldn't think of any arcane to represent the chapter… sorry about that.

As to why I added the 12 Major Arcanas into my story… well… that's because I'm also a fan of ATLUS' PERSONA series.

Just like the Social Links in the Persona games, all of the major characters in my fanfic emulates the arcana they represent.

Here's a list… Oh and just for the fun of it, I'll add their real names (NOTE: These are all FAN MADE NAMES)

The Fool –Faux /Raphael Arisato Norton

The Magician- Andrei/ Andrei Iosif Kustov

The Priestess- Argo/ Kaori Kurashima

The Empress- Czarina/ Angelica Shiro Norton

The Emperor- Kibaou/ Yosuke Nokurao

The Hierophant – Gawain/ Gino Karasuba

The Lovers- Marcus and Millefueille/ Makoto Saemaru and Loraine Kada

The Chariot- The SILVER CROW guild

Justice- The INQUISITION guild

The Hermit- Kirito/ Kazuto Kirigaya

Fortune- Tamil/ Takane Mimiro

Strength – Klein/ Ryoutarou Tsuboi

The Hanged Man- The QUARTET guild

Death- All PKKs

The Temperance – Lisbeth/ Rika Shinozaki

The Devil- Flandre/ Remirura Hiiro

The Tower- PoH/ Emilio De Los Reyes

The Star- Asuna/ Asuna Yuki

The Moon- Tyrant/ John Doe

The Sun- Yulier/ Hana Naotaka

Judgment- LaCroix/ Christopher La Croix

The World – Heathcliff/ Akihiko Kabaya

PS: One name there is actually a direct relative of a character in another series, somewhere in the distant future. I wonder if anyone can guess who that person is…

-:-

Next, let's talk about future chapters.

And to answer your question, Yes, I still plan on continuing COUNTER GUARDIAN for as long as I possibly can.

The next arc will begin after 1 or 2 chapters.

-:-

Lastly, I'm requesting some feedback from you guys.

Was I able to pull it off?

Was I able to successfully engross you with my story? If not, then why?

Was my characters good? Mediocre? Horrible?

Was my battle scenes lacking detail? Or was it executed well enough?

Was 9 chapters enough? Or was it too little?

Be it in by reviews or by PM, it doesn't matter.

Such feedbacks will allow me to improve as an author, so please send me some feedbacks.

-:-

FINAL NOTE: This Author's note took me 3 hours to write and 1092 words were used…. Now, do you understand why I don't want any Author's Notes in my chapters?


	11. Extra Chapter 1

EXTRA CHAPTER 1

For those who died in vain

-:-

May 13, 2025

"*huff* *huff*"

Raphael controls his breathing as he makes another lap around the large exercise field. His pace is just above a standard jog, but below a full blown sprint, thus soaking his clothes with sweat.

"_Just how many laps did I do already?"_ The thought crossed his mind.

After a second in thought, he realizes that he doesn't know. And truth be told, he doesn't really care anymore. For now, he focuses on putting one foot in front of the other and powers his way for another lap around the field.

His father has always emphasized the importance of a healthy body to an otaku.

"One cannot enjoy his anime if that person is having a heart attack." This is his father's personal motto

As such, Raphael has acquired a habit of setting up a training rotation for himself and stick with it. Depending on his body's condition, he may increase or decrease the intensity of his work out. Because of his extensive gym know-how, a lot of adults often ask for his advice concerning their training regiment…. Which happens to be a very peculiar sight.

Imagine a bunch of adults seriously listening to the words of a kid….. a very peculiar sight indeed.

Anyways, it is important to have a schedule on which body part train per day in order to prevent a state called a PLATEAUING. At this state, the body becomes used to the stress of the work out and stops improving. As such, rotation of many different training regiments are important to keep the body from getting used to one particular program, and allows the body to keep improving.

In today's work out rotation, he focuses purely on cardio to increase his stamina. Jogging is the most appropriate form of cardiovascular activity for those who don't want to spend a dime in gym equipment.

Suddenly, a whistle is blown.

While still jogging, Raphael spots Mr. Kurasawa from the other side of the chain linked fence. Mr. Kurasawa is a slightly overweight man, sporting black combat boots, black military pants, light brown uniform and his signature 12 gauge shotgun loaded with rubber buckshot bullets.

'How does Raphael know that it's loaded with rubber bullets?' You ask?

Thru experience….. let's leave it at that.

"Just let me finish one last lap" He yells as he passes near Mr. Kurasawa.

With Mr. Kurasawa's thumbs up, Raphael quickens his pace. At the last 300 meters of the track, Raphael increases his pace to a mad dash. Though 12 seconds per 100 meters isn't a world record, Raphael is fairly proud of it.

Raphael slows his pace after crossing the finish line and heads for Mr. Kurasawa. "One hour already? That's pretty quick…."

" ONE HOUR ALREADY?! Oh how it does my heart good to hear you say that!" Mr. Kurasawa replies in an exaggerated manner. "It was just 5 ½ months ago that you could barely walk for 10 minutes. How far have you improved my young Padawan!"

Raphael bows low. "Thank you for your guidance Jedi Master Kurasawa"

Maki Kurasawa, or Mr. Kurasawa for short, is one of those rare prison guards who actually gives a damn about the inmates…. Or atleast the decent inmates. He is also an avid fan of a classic masterpiece, STAR WARS. It's not Raphael's cup of tea, but the he understands what Mr. Kurasawa feels.

Be it like, love, addiction or obsession, it matters not. A fan's passionate flame is not something reality, peer pressure or work can put out.

… Anyways, while talking about meaningless Star Wars trivia, Mr. Kurasawa escorts Raphael back to the place that he has called home for more than 5 months, the newly refurbished NORTHERN KANAGAWA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY…. AKA, An old, abandon, and newly refurbished prison somewhere between Tokyo and Kanagawa.

Yes…. Ever since the end of the SAO incident, those players who have craved blood has been sent to prison. Based on the story circulated through the media, they are suppose to receive counseling before they are released back to the public.

While it is true that he has received a lot of counseling for the past 5 months, Raphael cant help but feel that it is a waste of time and money.

To him, a counselor is similar to a psychologist. Both are expensive and both are worthless. If Raphael wanted counseling, his father is the perfect source of wisdom…. And more importantly, asking his father is ABSOLUTELY FREE.

"_First world problems… retards… retards everywhere…."_

A person who is incapable of solving his own metal issues deserves to waste money on someone who does nothing but listens and pretends to understand.

Raphael knows that he is greatly underrating the importance of Psychology to the human race, but hours and hours of _I understand that it's painful, it's not your fault _does strain his sanity.

"_**Its not my fault?**__ Get real. The PKs may have started it, but killing 61 people was MY decision alone. I am just as guilty as anyone else"_

-:-

Life in Northern Kanagawa is fairly lonely and very tough on Raph.

For some reason, visitors are not allowed ever since he was locked up here. It's not only him though, as all of the inmates have not seen their families in over 5 months.

The reason actually was simple and very logical.

Technically speaking, all of them have committed murder. However, the law can't punish them since PKing is a common occurrence in online games. As such, all players with a kill count of 3 or more must undergo _Intensive Psychological Evaluation_ before they are judged either fit to rejoin society, or criminally insane and must be locked up. Just like everyone else, his Psychological Evaluation is about 6 months long and his sentencing is in 2 days.

However, isolation was never his problem. He didn't spent majority of his SAO life in hiding for nothing. The main reason his life is so hard right now is because amongst the 50 inmates from all over Tokyo, he is the only PKK.

In short…. For PKK FAUX, the entire Northern Kanagawa Correction Facility is a death trap.

This is the main reason why Raph works out daily. If he wants to survive until tomorrow, he needs all the physical strength he can get.

"_Well… I just hope they'll be reluctant to do anything to me… considering what happened to the LAST that crossed me."_

Raph heads for the cafeteria for a late lunch. Surprisingly, the prison sports a wide selection of food is available to the inmates. It even puts his previous school to shame. But more importantly…. ITS ALL FREE!

"_Man… I kinda feel sorry for all the law abiding tax payers…"_ Raph thought as he takes another bite of his blueberry cheese cake

After eating, Raph takes a bath, burrows a book (Hunt for Red October) from the prison library (yes… surprisingly, they have their own library here), then heads for his cell on the 3rd floor of the 5 story building.

The moment he steps out the stairs, his spider senses tingled.

The hall leading to his cell is devoid of any people. He looks at the other floors and observes the other inmates. Despite their best attempt to look natural, it is clear that they are excited about something.

"_You have got to be kidding me…."_ Raph sighs. _" I guess I'll be sending another one to the ICU."_

The instincts that kept him alive since SAO kicks into high gear. He slowly walks forward while keeping an eye on the audience's reaction.

3 cells pass when he suddenly notices that he has the audience's full attention, a clear sign that the ambush is just ahead. The moment he goes past the 4th cell, he faces his attacker and ducks down…. And not a second to soon, a sharp pain seers through his right cheek.

Raphael immediately counters.

He charges at his assailant and pins him on the wall. With his right arm on the attacker's neck and his left arm restraining the opponent's weapon, Raph thwarts the ambush. With that, he finally gets a good look at his attacker.

The attacker is a tall, bald, geeky looking kid using a shiv made from a toothbrush with a sharpened butt. He looked like one of those creepy otaku kids that gets isolated from the rest of the class. Raph has nothing against that type of person….. On the contrary, prior to the SAO incident, majority of his friends are otakus and alike. On a personal level, they might have been good friends.

Unfortunately for his assailant, this is the REAL WORLD. The gaining a single stat point here takes a lot of effort and dedication. And ofcourse…. The REAL WORLD has one annoying function that SAO doesn't have….. PAIN

The effects of Raph's 5 month training regiment instantly shows. He repeatedly smashes his knee into the attacker's nuts, all the while, tightening his grip on the arm holding the weapon until the attacker drops it.

The moment the shiv hits the floor, Raph drives his left hand into his right arm, which in turn drives into the attacker's windpipe.

FUN FACT: The windpipe is one of the most fragile parts of the human body. Even a light press from a finger causes a bit of discomfort.

Now… image how much pain a full force blow would cause?

Mr. Attacker finds out the hard way as he crumbles to the floor in agony.

Raph begins to leave but a thought crosses his mind.

"_Hm…. The guy must have mustered a lot of courage to face me. It would be rude if I didn't respond with equal ferocity, right?"_

Raph goes back to Mr. Attacker and carries him on his shoulders. He then carries him near the edge of the floor.

"_Woo… that's a long way down.."_ Raph thought.

Much to the horror of the audience, Raph lifts Mr. Attacker over his head and prepares to do the unthinkable. However, before he could do that….

"Hold it right there, Raph!" a familiar voice shouts from behind along with the sound of a shotgun being primed and ready to fire.

Mr. Kurasawa stands right by the stairs with his 12 gauge aimed at Raph. "Raph, theres no need to do that. You're better than them"

Raph ponders for a second, then changes Mr. Attacker's position to make sure that his legs go down first.

"RAPH! DROP HIM! NOW!" Mr. Kurasawa yells in desperation.

After a second of silence, Raphael laughs manically. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Interesting choice of words Mr. Kurasawa!"

Indeed, Raph drops Mr. Attacker… 3 floors down.

Without delay, Raph feels a sharp and familiar pain on his side, knocking the living daylights out of him.

"_That's gonna hurt in the morning"_

His consciousness fades as he hits the floor. However, before he completely blacks out, he hears a distant scream of agony somewhere on the lower floors. This is a clear sign that Raphael has accomplished his objective.

"_Alive yet in agony…. perfect"_

-:-

May 14, 2025

AKB48 THEATER, AKIHABARA

"_Finally…. This 1 week nightmare is over…."_

Angelica Shiro Norton leans her tired body on a nearby wall. She takes a sip from her energy drink, while taking great care not to dirty her overly fashionable clothes. Indeed, they are cute, but she wouldn't be caught dead wearing it in public… though more importantly, its not hers.

It takes 2 certain breeds of people who can endure the shame of being seen in such clothes. The common breed is called COSPLAYERS…. while the more special, more famous, and much more overrated breed is called IDOLS.

Despite her great dislike for the over sexed up loli troop of Akihabara, Ange has just finished her 7th day as one of team K's Idols. Of course, there is a short story behind all of this fiasco.

1 year into the SAO incident, the GYM RAT's receptionist, Karami Yokasia was discovered for her amazing talent as a dance choreographer. With a little push from Thomas Norton, Karami left the gym and became an authority in the dance scene. Since then, she worked on many projects with big time dance groups until AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, tracked her down and made her an offered she couldn't refuse.

Despite all of Karami's success, she makes tons of excuse to return to the gym. She even went as far as using it as her student's practice venue. There has been a lot of theories to Karami's somewhat questionable attachment to the GYM RAT, but Ange can see right through it all.

Karami Yokasia has a one sided love for her long time employer/father figure, Thomas Norton. Most people dismiss it as a daughter looking up to her father, but Ange can see herself in Karami. Like Ange, Karami is in love with someone forbidden to her. However, Ange was lucky enough that her beloved Ani-sama accepted her feelings.

She can only pray for Karami's happiness…. and safety. If Ange's mother finds out….. lets just say something VERY BAD will happen to Karami.

Anyways, back to the topic.

After the SAO incident, Karami volunteered herself to take charge of Ange's and Raph's rehabilitation. Unfortunately, Raph was imprisoned just 12 hours after SAO, thus leaving Ange as her only student.

As expected, Karami's rehab training comprised mostly of dance routines that she taught to the AKB48. In 6 months time, Ange's dancing skills is par to any member of the AKB idols. For that reason, Ange became a substitute for those unexpected emergencies, such as what has happened 7 days ago.

4 regulars of the K group was food poisoned after eating something created by a certain member of the AKB48 who cant cook even if her life depended on it. Their names were not disclosed to Ange for some reason….

Whatever the case maybe, Karami begged Ange to sub in for the less known members of the group, which in turn, position her at the very back of the dance group. Unfortunately, even with the least notable position, she gained instant fame amongst the pedophilic audience….. much to her disdain

"_Well, I guess it cant be helped…. I AM a beauty and a genius. No matter how famous these girls are, I am bound to stand out."_

Yes… as a natural born Albino and a very pretty girl, she easily stands out.

While Ange gloats in her mind, a towel is offered to her by someone.

"Splendid work Angelica Norton." Said a beautiful, very well endowed, blond twin tailed girl.

"Thanks, Remi" Ange accepts the towel.

From what limited knowledge Ange has on idols, Remirura Hiiro (Remi for short) is probably considered as a monster by many. With her looks and overly formal mannerisms, she was able to take the top 2 spot in the popularity polls….. all within a record breaking 2 months after her debut.

Despites all of Remi's success, she remains the well mannered, high class lady that she always been, which further catapults her fame into new heights.

"So… what do you want?" Ange has an idea on what Remi wants, but she asks anyways.

"What I desire…. Hmmm… if anything, I would prefer if my bust size was smaller. Constantly carrying this E cup tends to take a toll on my shoulder" Remi massages her shoulder

Ange is SLIGHTLY pissed. Her breast size is a modest B cup, and she is not ashamed of it. However, there was once a saying _A maiden's worth is measured by her bust size_, thus it feels like she lost something when bigger breasts are in the vicinity.

"Just tell me what you want from me cow tits!" Ange replies with a voice filled with killing intent.

"Ho ho ho ho. That is why I appreciate your company so much. You are one of the very few people who would speak to me in such an uncouth manner." Remi replies in delight. " To the topic at hand….. I know this might sound presumptuous, but may I request that you take up the mantle as an Idol of AKB48?"

Ange double takes. "HUH?! Are you expecting ME to be a fap material for those pedophiles?! 7 days already pushing it! There is no way I'm doing that ever again! Got it?!"

To Ange's surprise, Remi chuckles heartly. "…. I see. That is too bad. A worthy rival such as yourself would make my idol career less torturous."

"Ho… not a fan at waving your cow tits in front of the perverts huh?" Ange replies."Why not quit?"

Remi sighs. "Tis unfortunate, but such a thing is not in my nature. When I commit, I see it through….. Though this time, I deeply regret such a mindset."

Ange ponders for a bit. "Well… how about getting yourself fired?"

"Oh…. Do tell" Remi replies with great interest.

"Well…. There is that NO BOYFRIEND rule. Just grab some random guy pretended to be a couple. Simple and effective"

"Excellent plan if I say so myself… however…" Remi twiddles with her thumbs like a love struck maiden. In a small voice, she replies."…. I… already have …. someone I promised my heart to… so…."

"Ho! Ho Ho ho ho! Remi has a crush on someone?! That's new!" Ange replies in glee. "So? Who is it? Spill the dirt!"

Remi laughs weakly. "It shames me to say this but… I don't know his name. Tis but a love at first sight sort of affair. I've only met him a couple of times and had dated him only once. However, those events where enough to make me heart flutter like never before."

"Wow…. How romantic! An unrequited love has always been the butt of every shoujo anime." Ange stands and offers Remi a handshake. "As much as I want to cheer you on, I have to go before that producer guy catches me. I hate dealing with that pig"

"Tis was a short time, but you have become a very dear friend to me." Remi shakes Ange's hand. "May our paths cross again Angelica Shiro Norton"

"I doubt that, Remirura Hiiro. I highly doubt that."

-:-

May 15, 2025

OUTSIDE THE NORTHERN KANAGAWA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

The last 2 years has been a very trying time for Thomas Norton. He may not voice it out much, but he deeply loves his family, and he would do anything to keep them together. However, when the SAO incident came to pass, it was like his entire spine was ripped out. There wasn't a day that he would just sit in his children's room and cry his heart out. The only reason why he was able to pull through it all was because of his wife's support.

When SAO ended and both of his kids came out alive, Thomas was so happy that he could (and would) run naked through Tokyo and not give a damn.

Ofcourse, his happiness was short live as Raph was imprisoned. Never the less, Thomas is confident that his family will be back together in no time.

"Hm… I haven't been near a prison in a while now…" Thomas Norton said to himself.

His family and their next door neighbors, the Karasuba couple, are currently at the prison where his son is about to undergo his sentencing. Before they went in, Angelica insisted that they wait for a friend of her's to arrive. This actually comes as a surprise for Thomas, seeing how most girls despise Ange out of jealousy and insecurity, thus isolating her from any girl group. The fact that she has someone she calls a FRIEND fills Thomas with so much joy.

"_Atleast SAO was good for something"_

A few minutes later, a taxi stops in front of them and drops of a petite 14 or 15 year old, black haired girl. Sporting a Black Sabbath shirt, baggy brown shorts and red chuck taylor shoes. She would have pulled off the punk rocker look if it wasn't for the large, white cat hairpin on her head . She cannot hide her petite, loli goodness from Thomas Norton's well trained moe detector.

"You're late!" Angelica approaches the petite girl. "Explain yourself, Kaori Kurashima!"

"Nyahahaha. Sorry about that." The girl named Kaori replied. "There was this traffic jam at-"

"On second thought, I don't want to hear your worthless excuses." Angelica rudely interrupts. She grabs Kaori by the hand and pulls her towards Thomas and Ayime. "You wanted to meet my and Ani-sama's parents right? Well, here they are."

Kaori panics. "W-wait! Already?! Hold on! I-I'm not mentally prepared yet!"

"Shut it! I have no patience for cowards." Ange pushes Kaori in front of Thomas. "This is what you wanted. Stop belly aching and get on with it!"

Kaori stiffens at the sight of Thomas Norton. She attempts to speak a couple of times, but only small squeaks manages to escape from her mouth

"_LOLI MOE! LOLI FREAKING MOE! "_ Thomas rages in his mind while keeping a straight face.

"Who are you?" Ayime asks in a cold manner, causing Kaori to shrink back

"Now now honey. No need to say it like that. You're scarring the poor kid" Thomas says to Ayime.

"T-that wasn't my intention…." Ayime sighs. "Dear, can you talk to her for me? I'm not really good at this sort of thing"

"Sure thing." Thomas turns his attention to Kaori. "Anyways, how about you tell me your name and what is your relation to our family. Let's start with that."

"I-I-I'm K-Kaori Kurashima! I'm Raphael's L-lover! Nice to meet you!" Kaori bows low.

"Nice to meet you too. I am Thomas Nort-WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Thomas roars, much to everyone's surprise.

He turns his attention to Angelica. "Ange! What's the meaning of this?! I thought you were his lover?"

"I am. I'm just allowing Kaori to share. Nothing more" Angelica replies arrogantly.

A couple of weeks after the SAO incident, Ange confessed to her parents that she loved Raph as a man, not as a brother. Thomas wasn't really surprised about that. There have been so many instances that hinted Ange's forbidden affection for her brother.

Thanks to watching innumerable amounts of incest themed anime, Thomas has already developed a resistance to such a thing. He even secretly cheered Ange on.

However, the problem lies with Ayime Norton. After Ange's confession, Ayime exploded in shock and anger. There was a lot of screaming and an agonizing 1 week silent treatment followed. Just when all hope seemed lost, Ayime Norton breaks the silent war and asked Ange a simple question.

"Do you love Raphael?"

"More than you'll ever know." Ange replied with such determination that Ayime was instantly convinced.

That's all in the past…. because right now, a new problem has arisen.

"Ange… are you seriously okay with that?!" Thomas grabs Ange by the shoulders and shakes her exaggeratedly.

Much to his surprise, Ange replies in a small and embarrassed voice. "Papa…. Kaori is my first best friend…. So…."

It finally hits Thomas.

For most of her life, Ange has been isolated from the rest of the crowd due to her beauty and arogance. It would be understandable if Ange would take great care of the first person that she considered a BEST FRIEND…. even if it means sharing what she holds dear.

"Well…. I guess it cant be helped" Thomas sighs. He turns his attention to Kaori " Anyways, nice to meet you Kaori. I'm sure that you guys don't want to delay your reunion with Raph, so let's head in, shall we?"

With that said, everyone heads in.

.

.

.

However…. There is ONE minor detail that pisses off Thomas

"_Raphael…. My own flesh and blood…. HAS A HAREM?! &*#&^$! IM SO JEALOUS!"_

-:-

The guards led the group to where the sentencing is to be held….. the cafeteria. It isnt really surprising though, seeing how the fairly ancient prison was hastily refurbished.

As they enter the fairly empty hall, Thomas spots a few faces that he didn't expect to see.

Near the middle of the hall, 6 very dangerous looking people sat nonchalantly. The aura they radiated was so intense, that the 10 armed guards cant help but be extra cautious around them. In the middle of the group of muscular men stands a woman with long, bleach blonde hair and a beautiful face covered in scars. With a pure black business suit and light brown long coat, it is clearly implied that she is Russian in nationality.

"Catherine Yvoska?! What the nine hells are you doing here?!" Thomas yells out as he approaches them.

" *Sigh*… Is that any way to greet a friend?" Catherine cooly replies.

"I cant help it. The only time you and prison goes together, is when you are locked in it"

"Hahahaha! I doubt there's any prison that's crazy enough to lock me in!"

Thomas ponders for a bit. "*sigh*…. It scares me how much that makes sense…"

"It's scary because its true." Catherine violently pats Thomas on the shoulder. She turns her attention to Angelica. "Ho…. You've grown a lot since I last saw you, Ange."

"Its been a while Aunt Catherine. I'm glad to see you again." Ange replies with a curtsy.

"Such manners. You've grown into a fine young woman when I wasn't looking. I'm glad to see that I had no influence on you whatsoever." Catherine says.

Catherine turns her attention to Ayime….and the room temperature suddenly plummets as the two throw death glares at each other.

"Its been a long time Cathy. How are you?" Ayime says with an overly polite voice.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." Catherine replies in kind.

Based on their voice alone, it was crystal clear that the 2 women despise each other, much to Thomas' displeasure.

Because the USA's policy of sticking its hands on everyone's business, Catherine Yvoska and Thomas Norton have gotten to know each other through the USA's more questionable agendas. Despite being in different sides of the law, they always had a MORE THAN FRIENDS, LESS THAN LOVERS type of relationship. And more importantly, Thomas knew Catherine way before he met Ayime.

Due to the nature of Thomas' work, no further information can be divulged about the 2's activities. However, just to give some perspective, Catherine's organization provided information of a certain terrorist group in a certain country in the middle east. Using that information, Captain Thomas of a certain destroyer class ship launches a certain cruise missile into a certain heavily populated city and kills several high ranking members of that terrorist group. As a reward, Catherine's organization monopolizes the drug trade in that region.

Unfortunately, the rest of the details are highly classified. Those who are interested will just have to use their imagination.

Anyways, back to the topic. Thomas has repeatedly stated to Ayime that there is absolutely NOTHING between him and Catherine. Yet despite that, Ayime has been hostile to Catherine since they met.

"By the way Catherine, why are you here? This is MY son's trial. You have nothing to do with it" Ayime says, clearly emphasizing the word MY, pissing off Catherine in the process.

"I am his godmother. I have every right to be worried for him as you do." Catherine replies with a bit of force in her voice. "Besides, the kiddo helped out Andre during SAO and we people from the ORGANIZATSIYA pay our debts 3 folds"

As the two continue their…. conversation (?), the prison warden/judge/ head psychologist enters the hall. Much to everyone's surprise, a straitjacketed Raphael surrounded by 4 armed guards follows right behind the warden.

"Oh! Everyone's here? And here I was expecting to be a forever alone guy. I'm touched!" Raphael says nonchalantly as he approaches the stand.

After a few seconds of silence, Thomas Norton recovers from shock.

"O-oi… Kid… whats with the get up?" He asks.

"Ah this? It's just for show. Don't worry about it dad." Raph replies as he undoes the arm binds, which further confuses everyone.

"Err… why?" Catherine asks

"Well, technically speaking, this place is considered a nut house. Its only natural to restrain the most dangerous inmates when they meet anyone." Raphael shrugs. "The straitjacket is mostly for formalities sake."

Before they could asks any more questions, the warden interferes.

"Ahem… Good day to everyone, please sit where ever you like. My name is Hotoko Nasu, and I will be the one that will be evaluating Raphael for today."

Everyone takes a seat.

With all eyes on Hotoko Nasu, the trial begins in earnest.

-:-

"We are gathered here today for the trial of Raphael Norton on the grounds of murder. I assume everyone understands that Player Killing in SAO is murder, correct?" Hotoko asks.

Everyone nods in affirmation.

"I see. Then here is another question….." Hotoko pauses for a second. "Does anyone of you know how severe his crimes are?"

"Not really. Andrei here will not talk at all." Catherine replies cooly. "He insists that all will be revealed in court."

An uneasy silence fills the hall.

"Actually….. Ange said the same thing" Thomas says.

Thomas looks at the Ange and Kaori for answers, however, the 2 girls avoids his gaze as they shift uncomfortably.

"I do not understand. So what if he killed a couple of people? A lot of people in my organization have done the same." Catherine says.

As much as Thomas wants to disagree, he has to agree with Catherine. Though he never personally killed anyone, many of the cruise missiles that his ship fired has resulted in casualties. Based on the reports, his missiles have killed at least 42 people.

"No one knows huh…" Hotoko sighs. He turns to Raph and asks. "Can I tell them?"

"Sure. Its not a secret anyway." Raph replies.

"I see…. Very well." Hotoko sighs once again. He turns back to the audience and says. "Raphael Norton, AKA FAUX in SAO, holds the highest PK count of 61."

The news shocks the non SAO players.

"Does everyone understand?" Hotoko continues. "This means that Raphael Norton has killed 61 people in the span of 2 years. For killing large numbers of people over a large span of time, Raphael Norton is labeled a SERIAL KILLER."

The hall is silent. Even the guards were in shock. And ofcourse, Thomas Norton was especially shocked.

"_Can a 16 year old kid really kill so many?"_ is the thought crosses everyone's mind.

Once again, Hotoko clears his throat. "Ahem… as for the motive, I ask Raphael to state his side of the story"

All eyes focuses on Raphael, causing the boy to shift on his chair a bit. He takes a deep breath and begins to speak.

"Mr. and Mrs. Karasuba, do you know how Gino died?" Raphael asks with a voice devoid of emotions.

"No… We assumed he was killed by a monster." Mr. Karasuba replies.

Mr. Karasuba might not look like it, but he used to be a diehard net gamer prior to his marriage, which explains his knowledge of the RPG realm.

"Wrong. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but he was killed by other players, right before my eyes."

Shock spreads on the Karasuba couple's face as the news is hammered to them like a lead hammer. What shocks them even more is how relaxed Raphael is delivering the horrible news.

"The anger that I felt at that moment, literally, drove me insane" Raphael continues. "By the time I came back to my senses, 4 people died in my hands. And that's how it started."

Raphael pauses for a second, as if he was on a trip to memory lane, the he continues.

"My motive is plain and simple. For the murder of my best friend, I swore to kill the murderer and everyone else that stands in my way. I ,and many others, swore that we will get our revenge."

An uneasy silence fills the hall. A few seconds later, Thomas speaks up.

"At what cost kiddo… at what cost?" He says

"….Anything that I can allow myself to sacrifice." Raph replies, pissing of Thomas in the process

"EVEN YOUR LIFE?!" Thomas roars in anger.

How can he not be angry? His own son, whom he also considers as one of his best friends, just said that he doesn't value his own life. Thomas didn't just invested 16 years of love and care just so Raph can throw it away.

"Then tell me something dad… what if mom or Ange was murdered and you know exactly who the murderer was. Will you not put all of your efforts to get revenge?" Raphael calmly replies.

Unfortunately for Thomas, Raphael has always had a knack for reading others. Raphael's statement hit Thomas at the point where he could not retort. Indeed, if he was in Raphael's shoes, he would have done the same.

Raphael notices this and continues on.

"Mr. and Mrs. Karasuba. If I told you that I know what the killer looks like, would you allow me to hunt down and kill her?" Raphael asks.

The couple makes a difficult face. After a couple of seconds of consulting each other, Mrs. Karasuba speaks up.

"No. We wont allow you. We understand more than anyone how you feel after Gino's death, however we cannot allow that you destroy your life any further." Mrs. Karasuba bows low." Im sure Gino wouldn't want you to go down that horrible path. Please…. let it go"

Raphael stares at the couple emotionlessly. A couple of seconds later, he shrugs exaggeratedly.

"Suite yourself." He replies as if it was not a big deal.

This action confuses everyone. Even the psychologist, Hotoko Nasu, didn't expect Raphael to give up so quickly.

"Raphael…. Do you not feel any anger towards the PK's" Hotoko asks.

Raphael shrugs in reply. "Not really. Not anymore atleast."

"Why?"

"Hmm…. I guess I'm just tired of all of this."

"That doesn't make any sense. Please elaborate."

Raphael thinks for a bit. "They once said that killing become easier the more you do it. I guess that's whats happening to me right now. I've grown tired of killing, that's all."

"And this is coming from someone who sent 4 people to the ICU in the past 5 months?" Hotoko replies, much to Thomas' surprise.

"Wait… What?! What's this 4 people all about?" Thomas asks, dreading the answer that he will receive.

"Oh…. I forgot about that." Hotoko says. " Well… since it was self defense, I figured it wasn't necessary to include it here. But seeing how you are family, I guess you have the right to know."

Hotoko clear his throat. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Raphael, a PKK, was assigned to this prison which houses mostly PKs. As a well known PKK, there have been multiple attempts at Raphael's life…. However, all of those would-be-killers were met by violent resistance, thus the would-be-killers ended up with severe injuries."

"Ho…. What type of injuries?" Catherine asks with great interest.

Hotoko Nasu then enumerates Raphael's victims. However, he refrains using any of their names for privacy purposes.

:-: Victim 1 attacked Raphael while he was on kitchen duty. Victim 1 was thrown into a large pot chicken curry. Victim 1 suffered 3rd degree burns in many parts of his upper body. Victim 1 also suffered permanent blindness.

:-: Victim 2, a large man, attempted to bully Raphael in the dining hall. Victim 2's face was horribly disfigured after being smashed into the table repeatedly. Victim 2 may need to undergo surgery due to catastrophic damage to the facial muscles and bones.

:-: Victim 3 attacked Raphael in the showers. Victim 3 received a badly bruised throat, punctured eardrums, multiple rib fractures and a horribly beaten pair of testicles. Victim 3 is already undergone an operation to stop the hemorrhaging within his testicles

:-: Victim 4 ambushed Raphael in the 3rd floor using a makeshift knife. After a short fist fight, Victim 4 was thrown off the 3rd floor. Victim 4's legs were shattered in 532 places and may never walk again, unless he undergoes multiple operations and years of rehabilitation.

"Good lord…. Where you trying to kill them?!" Thomas asks in disbelief. Much to his surprise, Raphael laughs in reply.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Ofcourse not! I have absolutely no intentions of killing any of them!" Raphael replies with an evil smile. "Killing them is the easy way out. I want them to suffer for as long as possible."

"But why?" Hotoko Nasu calmly asks. "If you have no hate for them, why make them suffer?"

Raphael stares at Hotoko Nasu for a bit, then replies. "This is my duty to the ones who didn't make it. At the very least, I want to avenge those nameless people who died senselessly."

Once again, the hall is silent.

Raphael's words is full of dedication to his cause…. Yet despite that…. Why can Thomas spot a hint of sadness in his son's eyes?

Was it regret?

Was it guilt?

Was it sorrow?

Whatever it was, it has just made Thomas Norton realize something….

"_Raph….. you're not happy that you survived?"_

After a couple of seconds in silence, Hotoko Nasu speaks up.

"I see… Very well. Let me ask you something…. How do you plea?"

"Guilty in all charges" Raphael replies immediately

"I see…. Then let us end this evaluation." Hotoko Nasu stands up and faces everyone. "Well then…. Based on my observations over the course of 5 months, I announce to all that is present that Raphael Norton is fit to return to society and is to be released immediately….. that is all"

Everyone was stunned. Thomas is sure that if it was physically possible, Raphael's jaws would have hit the floor.

"H-Hold on! I just killed 61 people in cold blood and you're just gonna let me go?! Are you insane?!" Raphael protests.

"I'm a psychiatrist and my job is to find out who has officially lost his marbles." Hotoko replies. " You, on the other hand, is as sane as anyone can get. In short, I have no business with you. You may leave now."

"I may be sane, but I'm also a criminal. There's no way you can just let me off like this!"

"Listen Raphael, technically speaking, Player Killing cannot be punished by the court of law." Hotoko replies. "You can't simply convict someone with no proof, even if that someone surrenders himself."

"Even so…."

Hotoko approaches Raphael and places his hands over the young man's shoulders

"Raphael, there are many people waiting for you in this world. Now imagine how they would feel if they never saw you again …..Are you sure you want them to experience the same agony as you did?"

Raphael grits his teeth at the thought.

Thomas doesn't know what happened to his son during the SAO incident, but based on Raphaels reaction, it was no doubt something no one should experience.

-:-

1 MONTH LATER

Somewhere in Tohaku

Raphael stares at the peaceful plains of Tohaku from a porch. The short time alone came at a good time, seeing how Raph has short list of issues he needs to set straight.

Raphael's first month back in the real world has been….. mind boggling to say the least. However, after 2 years within a death game and 6 months within a prison that wants him dead, no one can really blame him.

The sudden loss of danger in the atmosphere is what shocked Raphael the most. He no longer had to watch his back every few seconds, nor did he have to constantly observe his surroundings for possible ambushes.

In short, Raphael is at a loss. He no longer understand the ways of the world he lives in, and more importantly, he cant find his place in this peaceful world.

"_I guess this is what those WW2 soldiers felt after the war."_

….Anyways, the Norton family is currently at the 3rd day of their family 1 week vacation in a small classical hotel managed by Ayime Norton's younger brother. It only has about 30 rooms, but each one of them has a classical Japanese feel to it.

Rin Yuuhi, Ayime's younger brother, is Raphael's type of guy. He is bald, slightly overweight, and his hobby is making his own classical weapons. Most of the otaku weapons that Raphael owns were ordered from Rin Yuuhi. Among these weapons are Excaliborg from Beating Angel Doruko-chan, Kanshou and Byakuya Fate Stay night, the claymore of Teresa of the Faint Smile, and many more.

This is the main reason why Raph is such a penny pincher. A single weapon normally costs him an arm, a leg and about 3 months of weight loss, however, such a thing is a small price to pay.

Normally, Raphael and Rin would be able to talk leisurely about their hobbies, however for some reason, the inn is abnormally busy. Every employee is practically rushing their job despite only having 4 groups of customer.

While Raphael was considering to ask an employee, Rin approaches him.

"Yo Raph! Sorry for not being able to talk to you. Things suddenly got hectic" Rin takes a sit beside Raph.

"What's up?" Raph asks.

"An idol was suppose to come here in 2 days….. then suddenly, BAM, her manager calls and says that they will be here in 30 minutes!" Rin sighs." As much as I appreciate Ange's advertisement to the rich and famous, I would really prefer if they don't do this last minute changes. Its bad for the heart"

"Oh yeah, she did tell me about that 1 week AKB thing." Raphael replies. " But in my opinion, this is a good thing. She's finally making friends."

Rin nods in agreement. "True…. That sharp tongue of hers has kept potential friends at bay. Its good to know there are people who can see through her tsundere personality."

"By the way, are you sure you have the time to rest? They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Don't worry about it. We've done what we can do. The rest is up to fate."

They relax and talk about their usual topic….. weapons in anime. This time around, they debated if Gilgamesh's GATE OF BABYLON is considered a weapon or not. Raph considers it as a weapon because it is similar to a machine gun that fires the strongest bullets. To Rin, the gate is a teleporting device, not a weapon.

And as expected of 2 otaku's, their debate became so intense that it was about to turn into a fist fight. Luckily, one of the employees rushed in to report to Rin.

"Sir! They're here!" The employee said.

"Got it. Get everyone ready. I'm guessing we have 10- 20 hours before the paparazzi's hound the inn" Rin replied. He then turns to Raph. "Come on kid. Meeting a real live idol is a once in a life time experience."

"Yeah sure… I'll finally get to see whats so special about these so called idols" Raphael replies.

Rin gives Raph some info about the VIP while they head for the main entrance.

Remirura Hiiro is a friend of Ange's during her 1 week as a temporary member of the AKB48 and the youngest child of Takamura Hiiro, the owner of the SCARLET SHIPPING INDUSTRIES, 3rd largest cargo ship fleet in the world. They ship pretty much everything, from minerals used for making cement to the latest brand of Prada shoes. And though it is not publicized, they own a bunch of smaller shipping companies which ships narcotics, and to a lesser extent, weapons for war. All in all, she's one of the most powerful 16 year old girls in the world.

Surprisingly, it seems that Thomas Norton is also an _unsavory_ connection with the Hiiro's. Prior to the secret collaboration between the USA and the Russian Mafia against a certain terrorist group, the Scarlet Shipping Industries had the monopoly of the narcotics and weapon shipping in that area.

NOTE: The Scarlet Shipping Industries only TRANSPORTS the illegal materials. They don't SELL them.

After the fall of that certain terrorist group, they lost the territory to the Russian, which in turn, losing millions of dollars in shipping fees. Ofcourse, they tried to take it back, however, a couple of tomahawk cruise missiles was all it took to bury their hired guns 6 feet into the ground.

Somehow, Takamura Hiiro found out that Thomas Norton was at the center of all of this, and attempted to take revenge. Unfortunately for Takamura, good old Uncle Sam takes care of his people. As such, he wasn't able to Thomas Norton out of fear of being at the receiving end of a tomahawk. Yet despite that, Angelica Norton has made friends Remirura Hiiro.

"_It seems that the sins of the fathers are not the sins of the sons…. Or daughters in this occasion."_

As they approaches the main entrance, a suspicious sight causes Raph to stick to the wall.

15 business men, each with the body similar to Thomas Norton, entered the hotel. In the middle of that wall of muscle, a horribly familiar girl stands.

"_Blond twin tails, big breasts and a goth loli dress…..so…. Remirura Hiiro is Flandre… Ironic"_

Raph's main target whom he thought was out of his reach, suddenly walks into his territory. From the looks of things, Ange doesn't know that she has befriended Gino's killer. It cant be helped though, seeing how Flandre isn't among the famous PKs.

What surprise Raph the most, is his lack of emotion. He didn't feel any of the rage that had driven him in SAO. He probably could just let Flandre walk away and not be bothered with it.

"_Now its official….. I really did get tired of killing"_ Raphael turns around and begins walking away.

"Oy Raph! Where the hell are you going?" Rin asks. "We're meeting a REAL LIVE IDOL. That's not something that happens every day."

"Nah… I'm not into those over sexed up hump dolls." Raph replies. "By the way, do you still keep those weapons of yours in the same place?"

"Ofcourse and all of them are in mint condition!" Rin puffs his chest in pride. "Why? You'd rather be surround with swords than babes?"

"Something like that. I'll be back in a few hours"

"Okay! But I promise you my friend, you're missing out"

"I doubt it."Raph turns and leaves.

His mind instantly begins drafting up plans. How to lure Flandre from her bodyguards. What terrain should he fight her on. What weapon should he use. How will he dispose of the body once he's done. How will he be able to get away with it. What are the after effects of this operation.

Yes…. Even if he no longer has any hate for the PKs, he will not let this opportunity pass. He must kill Flandre before she moves out of his reach.

'Why?' Do you ask?

The answer is simple.

"_This is for those who died in vain"_

-:-

12:00 Midnight

Remirura Hiiro, or Remi for short, watches the miniature garden in silence. Today was one of the most pleasurable days she had since exiting SAO. Angelica Norton, her new found friend, has never ceased to entertain Remi ever since they met.

This time around, Ange wanted to show off her older brother who also happens to be her lover. As a girl, the thought of incest aroused her curiosity much more than her disgust.

"_What type of person could make his own sister fall in love with him?"_ The thought plagued Remi's mind since Ange revealed it to her.

Unfortunately, Ange's brother seems to have left the premises and has yet to return.

"_Most unfortunate. I am sure that our meeting would result in an interesting conversation"_

Despite that, Ange and Remi still had a good time. They played ping pong (Remi lost horribly), watched TV, took a dip in the hot spring, and gossiped until Ange fell asleep. It was a typical event when 2 girls meet, and it is without question, a very pleasant experience….. but never the less….. something was missing.

Ever since the end of SAO, Remi suddenly felt very empty, as if her life has lost all meaning.

In desperate attempt to fill the void, she pursued her former dream of being an Idol. However, even as she quickly rose to the top, it was not able to fill the void. Aside from her time with Ange, her entire life became an agonizing existence with no purpose what so ever.

The only comfort that she has was her memories of the hooded warrior that once haunted her like the grim reaper himself. At first, Remi ran and hid in fear. But as time passed, that fear turned into curiosity.

"_Who was this person? What is he like? Why does he hate me so?"_

Those were the questions that plagued her during her days in solitude. Eventually, her curiosity overwhelmed her caution, which resulted in her quest to find her would-be-killer.

In SAO, the names of the players are not displayed to other players for security reasons. Because of that, simply changing clothes is enough to make anyone disappear.

Eventually she found him and began stalking him in order to find his weaknesses. As her days of stalking came to pass, she discovered that her would-be-killer was nothing like her initial image of him. Despite his terrifying aura in battle, Remi soon discovered that he was a cheerful and eccentric person. Despite his manly appearance, he has a strange obsession with sweets, which is very weird for a guy.

Before she knew it, she had already spent days just watching the person just for the fun of it. She pondered for days why would she do such a senseless thing. The thought then dawned on her…. Maybe… just maybe, Remi has fallen in love for the very first time?

The moment she accepted that fact was the moment she started to look forward to their violent rendezvous.

But that is now all in the past.

Now she lives in this peaceful world…. where she has absolutely nothing to live for.

As she laments over her past, she spots a figure in the middle of the miniature garden. The white hooded figure wields a spear on the left hand and a dagger on the right. And though Remi cant see his face from this distance, she can feel his intense gaze upon her.

Her body freezes up, as if someone grabbed her by the neck. All of her thoughts freeze as a familiar fear seeps into her soul. However, it only took her a couple of seconds to snap back to her senses. She changes from her nightgown into a fashionable black goth loli outfit.

She sneaks out her room by climbing down the window and heads for the garden.

Even if her instincts and common sense pleads her to turn back and run for her life, she completely ignores them and heads to her love and her death.

-:-

"…_. That worked?... really?"_

Raph is very surprised how well his current plan is proceeding. It is a plan so stupid that no one in their right mind would try it.

….Yet here comes Flandre….

"_I guess I underestimated just how nuts she is..."_

At the beginning of the hunt, Raphael's preparations and plans were perfect and ready….. except for _minor_ one detail… How in gods name was he suppose to get to Flandre?!

Between him and his target were 15 highly trained professional bodyguards, each with a physic that can snap Raphael like a twig. Thus, forcing his way to Flandre is out of the question.

He has considered using stealth to sneak into her room, and he actually believes that it has a fairly high rate of success.

Why?

Because aside from the boss battles and story driven encounters, he has finished DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION, all METAL GEAR SOLID games, All HITMAN games and All SPLINTER CELL games without firing a single shot at non important enemies.

However, he was forced to abandon it when he suddenly realized that there was no mini map in real life…. Sad…

With his main plans down the drain, Raph used himself as bait in hopes to lure Flandre out in the open. He had absolutely no confidence that it would work….. yet she stands only 10 feet away from him.

"_Not the most elaborate plan I have ever thought of, but beggars cant be choosers."_

The two stared silently at each other for a second.

"F-Faux-sama?... Is that really you?" Flandre asks with a voice filled with excitement.

Raphael remains silent for a second.

"My name is Raphael Shirou Norton." He replies with an emotionless voice.

"Oh my… how polite. Then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Remirura Hiiro. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Raphael-sama" Remi replies with a curtsy.

Remi giggles like a love struck maiden, much to Raph's annoyance.

"Fu fu fu. We truly are tied by the red string of fate, are we not?" Flandre twirls like a ballerina in joy. "To think that you were Ange's beloved older brother! Tis as if the gods of love has forced fate to bring us together!"

As Remi rambles on like the yandere that she is, Raph ignores her and began scanning the surroundings. He clears his thoughts and listens for any sounds in the immediate vicinity.

Aside from Remi and the wind, the nearest source of sound is a bunch of footsteps from the second floor where Remi's room is located. It is a clear sign that they didn't know that Remi was here.

"_3 minutes tops…. If I cant end it within that time span, I'm screwed"_

Raphael throws the spear near Remi's feet, signifying the end of her rambling.

"Oh my…. What is this?" Remi asks innocently.

In response, Raph draws his dagger and points it at Remi.

"Oh?... Oh! I see! We have yet to dance together, have we?" Remi takes the spear and twirled it with the skill of an experienced practitioner.

"…_Crap… She's THAT good?!"_

Due to their lack of any direct combat with each other, Raph has greatly underestimated Remi's fighting abilities. Based on visual confirmation alone, Remi's aptitude with a spear greatly exceeds Raph's ability with a dagger.

"_Le fuk…. I am screwed!"_

Remi readies her spear and says " Let us dance, my love!"

The final battle begins.

-:-

The serene night is disturbed by unholy sound of weapons vibrate through the air. Two figures danced a ballet of death within the moonlight garden as if they were the only beings in the world.

Raph's dagger meets the incoming spear head on, knocking it away in the process. Without any delay, the butt end of the spear comes from the other side, which Raph has already anticipated. He dodges the incoming blow and quickly rushes forward to close the gap between them, which pressures Remi to go on the defensive.

4 minutes into the battle, Raph has slowly gained ground against Remi. Initially, the difference in skill forced Raph to go on a defensive. But as each second pass, both realized that though Remi has skill, she has nothing more. She lacked the combat logic that can only be gained from large amounts of life and death battles.

And that experience is Raph has in abundance.

Raph continues his aggressive defense. He blocks, parries and dodges all the strikes that come at him while inching closer to force Remi into knife range.

Remi moves back to create some distance between them, but Raph sticks to her like glue and keeps on the pressure.

In a desperation, Remi swings the spear like a bat which catches Raph by surprise.

He instinctively shields himself with his right arm which took the full blunt of the blow. The agonizing pain he receives forces him to let go of his weapon. To add to his agonized arm, the spear's head was able to put a large gash on his right cheek.

Dispite this, Raph wears a twisted smile on his face.

It wasn't the way he planned it, but Remi is now within his range.

"_EAT THIS!"_

Raph throws a left straight which lands on one of Remi's arms. It is quickly followed by a right uppercut which connects with Remi's jaw, causing her to stumble and fall. In an added benefit, Remi's spear was launched into the air and landed somewhere on a nearby porch.

Remi makes a mad scramble for the porch, showing her back to Raph in the process.

"_Big mistake!"_

Raph goes on the attack, but a sharp pain shoots up his arm, bringing him down to his knees.

"_Oh crap…. That doesn't feel like a bruise… A bruise doesn't hurt this much."_

Raph has felt this pain once before, and that was when he got his leg broken after he was pushed over a flight of stairs.

"_Bone fracture…. Well… that's what happens when a retard tries to stop a spear with his bare hands."_

By the time Raph has recovered, Remi was the spear was almost within her grasp.

"_Like hell I'd let you!"_

Raph grabs the dagger by his feet and hurls it at Remi's out stretched hand. The dagger impales Remi's sleeve into the wall, leaving Remi completely free of injuries. The two cant help but stare at the dagger in awe.

"_Holy crap…. That was unexpected" _Raph thought.

On the other hand, Remi laughs like a lunatic. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Superb! To throw a dagger with such accuracy in the real world! Raphael-sama, you truly are amazing"

"_I hate to break it to you Remi, but I missed. "_

Raph had every intention to skewer Remi's arm when he threw the dagger.

Putting his dagger throwing skill aside, Raph grabs a random rock on the ground and slowly makes his way to Remi. It wasn't an ideal weapon by any standards, but it should be enough to squash Remi's head like a tomato.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" A manly voice yells.

It was one of Remi's bodyguards. From the looks of things, they finally realized that Remi was not in her room. But more importantly, the bodyguard is holding something undesirable in his hand.

"_A Gun?! Damn it!"_

Raphael's mind abandons all notion of thinking and focuses on one thought alone.

_KILL!_

With adrenaline coursing through his veins, he bites the bullet and launches himself at Remi. But before he could get to Remi, 2 small darts sinks into his side, followed by a massive influx electrical induced pain. Raph's muscle locks and he falls to his knees in agony.

"_A taser? Thank Go-"_

Before he could express his relief, a large fist sinks into his face and the world fades to back.

-:-

A familiar ceiling greets Raph's awakening.

"_Oh right… We're at Rin's inn right now."_

He attempts to sit up straight but massive waves of pain shoots through his body.

"_ARGH! What the hell?!"_

He forces himself to sit up while trying to remember the plate number of the truck that ran him over. Before he could rise from the bed, a gentle pair of hands pushes him back down.

"Raphael-sama, tis not the time for you to leave bed. Your body has yet to recover from our recent incursion" said an overly formal voice.

"Flandre?!"

Raphael stands up and adopts a defensive stance, but his injuries instantly takes its toll and forces him on his knees.

"Tis as I said Raphael-sama, you are too injured to move. Please rest your body for the moment" Flandre said as she helps Raph back into the bed. "And please call me Remi."

An uneasy silence follows.

Raph's mind is currently in overdrive right now. His eyes scans the room in search of weapons and possible escape routes.

"Oh… I see. Please wait a moment Raphael-sama" Remi stands up and heads for a nearby closet.

A few seconds later, she finds what she's looking for. She returns to Raph's side and hands it to him.

"This should put your mind at ease."

In Raph's hand lies a large tactical combat knife, much to his surprise and confusion. She gave him a weapon and placed herself well within his attack range. Not to mention that she's unarmed.

"_Is she crazy?!... oh wait….. This is Flandre we're talking about…. Ofcourse she's crazy."_

He analyzes his situation. From the looks of it, Remi has no intention of harming him. If she wanted him dead, she had plenty of chances while he was asleep. For now, he can trust her.

"So… what happened after that? " Raph asks

Remi smiles softly. "Well…. After our rendezvous, I instructed my guards to bring you to my room for treatment. By morning, I informed your parents that you where you were and how bad your injuries were"

Raph sighs. "I bet my dad went ballistic"

Remi giggles. "hi hi hi. Indeed, he did speak a few incomprehensible words."

"Well then…. I guess I have some explaining to do."

Once again, Raphattempts to stand, but Remi gently pushes him back down

"Please be at ease. I have already told them a suitable story for your injuries"

Raph stares at her in disbelief. "I'm not gonna like this, am I."

"Fret not, for my story is perfectly reasonable and sound." Remi replies.

Apparently, Remi and Raph have met each other through the net (This is true, but at the time, Raph wanted Remi dead), and eventually they met offline (this is true, though they only met yesterday). Due to Remi's hidden aspiration of becoming an action star (this is a lie), she pestered Raph to fight her like they truly want to kill each other. Raph was very reluctant about the idea (this is a big fat lie), but after weeks of pestering, he finally agreed to fight Remi the next time they met.

Yesterday, the two met in secret and fought with all of their might, yet they were mindful not to cause each other any lasting damage (this is false… they wanted nothing more than to cripple each other). Because Remi didn't tell anyone about their meeting, the bodyguards overreacted and beat the living day lights out of Raph.

"And they believed that?" Raph asks.

"Naturally. Tis not my intention to brag, but my acting skills are second to none" Remi puffs her chest in pride

Raph facepalms in disbelief.

"*sigh*…. Killing you just got much harder"

Remi's reaction to his statement was nothing he ever expected. Remi laughs heartily, as if she heard a good joke.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! You seem to misunderstand something Raphael-sama. The moment you failed to kill me yesterday was the moment that killing me became impossible!"

This makes Raph very uneasy. "W-what are you talking about? I can easily kill you right now"

"True. You can make short work of me right now. However, have you ever thought of the consequences if you do succeed?"

"I'll get thrown to prison or be executed. What about it?"

"Is that the best your insight can reveal to you? " Remi giggles, much to Raph's annoyance "Fu fu fu. Very well. I shall reveal to you what you have not considered."

"_I have a baaaaaaaaad feeling about this…"_

"Now that I know your real name, so does my father." Remi smiles like an angel… with horns and a pitchfork. "Not only does he knows your name, it would not be hard for him to find the names of your cousins, uncles, friends, acquaintances, and so on and so forth. I assume you know where this is heading, correct?"

Indeed…. Raph can tell where the conversation is heading….. and it pisses off Raphael to no end.

"In short…. You're taking everyone I care about as hostage…. Correct?" Raph replies as he grits his teeth

"Fu fu fu. Correct." Remi mounts Raph and puts her face about an inch away from his." But please don't misunderstand. I prefer if it doesn't come to such an undesirable event. I especially want nothing to happen to Ange. She is one of the few people that I consider as a true friend. Do you understand Raphael-sama?"

Raph runs simulation after simulation in his head, yet no matter what trickery he uses, his family will greatly suffer if he kills Remi. His main target is barely an inch away, yet he has no means to destroy her.

It's frustrating!

"Damn it!" Raph spits it out in vexation.

"fu fu fu. It seems you finally understand." Remi sinks her lips into his. "I do not mind if I have to share you. Powerful men always has a concubine or two. All I desire is you."

Raph doesn't resist as Remi passionately kisses him repeatedly.

.

.

.

.

"_Remirura Hiiro….. you truly are THE DEVIL"_

-:-


	12. Extra Chapter 2

EXTRA CHAPTER 2

The Queen of the Scarlet Jade Castle

-:-

Raphael Norton stands outside the principal's office….. and he is very reluctant to enter.

"…_.. I'm scared…."_

Scared?

No… SCARED barely expresses 14% of what Raph is currently feeling.

If there was a word for to describe it, then word would be OHMYFUKINGGODDAMNJAUNCLAUDVA NFUKINGSHITIMSOFUKINGSCAREDS HITLESSIMUSTBEOUTOFMYFUKINGM INDIWANARUNLIKEABITCHAWAYFRO MHERERIGHTNOW!

There is a perfectly logical explanation for his over-the-top panic.

On the other side of the door lies the principal's office. And within that office lies a person that should not be there.

"_Why the freaking hell is Takamura Hiiro here?!"_ Raph curses in his head. _"More importantly… why in gods name am I suppose to meet him?!... no…. I shouldn't even ask….. Remi, you bitch!"_

Remirura Hiiro, AKA Remi-Chan by her fans, AKA Remi-sama by her (secret) fanclub, AKA Remi-sempai by anyone in Raph's grade (Remi is actually one year older than Raph… who knew?), AKA Remi by Raph (he cant stomach being anymore respectful than he already is), and so on and so forth….

"_Woops… got a little sidetracked there."_

Back to the topic.

A few days after their final battle, Remi went to the GYM RAT and announced to the Norton Family that she and Raphael are in a relationship. She also stated that she is fine sharing Raph with Ange and Kaori as long as she is given the same rights as the two.

…. A few people didn't like that…

Ange ACCIDENTALY bashed Raph with her heavy duty parasol. She then refused to talk to him for over a week.

When Kaori heard the news, she ACCIDENTALY punched Raph in the gut. Despite her deliciously loli body, she has been a karate practitioner since her childhood. It goes without saying that her punch hurt like hell. She also refused to talk to him for a week.

Finally, Thomas Norton sparred in the ring with Raph a few times for a week. Though he used the word SPARRED, Thomas Norton was seriously trying to beat the living daylights out of him.

'How did Raph know?' You ask?

Simple…. Raph was in the receiving end of a fair amount of kicks….. in a boxing match. Raph did his best to fight back, but he ended up as a nasty little stain on the ring.

Raph can understand why Ange and Kaori is treating him horribly, and he can respect that. What he doesn't understand is why Thomas Norton is treating him like crap. Wasn't his father that told him that _HAREM IS EVERY MANS DREAM!_ ?

"_Whatever…. I have much bigger problems at the moment"_

Raph has a few scripts he can use, depending on what type of person Mr. Hiiro is. For now, his goal is to get Mr. Hiiro to hate him. That way, Mr. Hiiro will force Remi away from Raph and not get anyone caught in the crossfire.

"_Its now or never"_

Raph steels his will and enters the room.

Within the room are 4 people.

The principal, Mr. … , now that Raph thinks about it, what is his name? In all the months that he has attended school, he has never known the principals name.

"_Sorry Mr. Principal…."_ Raph apologies in his head.

The other person was obviously not Japanese. The overweight man sports a pair of thin rimmed glasses and wears a brown suite. He might have a Spanish or Mexican lineage based on his brownish skin color.

Then there is the balding Mr. Hiiro. He was wearing a hawaian shirt and cargo short, which is definitely not befitting his status. Raph never met him personally, but based on appearance alone, he seems to be a good guy.

As for the last person…. Well…. Lets just say, Raph didn't expect to see him at all.

"Faux…. Or is it Raphael Norton now? Either way, its good to see you again." Said the businessman in the black suit.

"La Croix…. What the hell are you doing here?" Raph asks the oh-so-slick businessman.

"Oh? You know the lad?" Mr. Hiiro asks La Croix

"Oh yes Mr. Hiiro. We've worked with each other a lot during the SAO incident" La Croix replies. "Remember the PKKs I told you about?"

Mr. Hiiro thinks for a bit. "Oh… the group that kills the murderers?"

"Yes. Raphael here sat on top of that group." La Croix replies.

"Oh… I see" Mr. Hiiro replies as he stares at Raph with great interest. "Anyway, take a seat young man. We have a few things to discuss. My daughter will be here shortly."

Raph takes the vacant seat opposite to Mr. Hiiro.

Mr. Hiiro clears his throat and speaks. "Lets get to the point. It seems that my daughter is very fond of you. And I assume that you are fond of her as well, correct?"

"_No you blasted retard! My family, friends and acquaintances' financial well being are being held hostage by your hell spawn of a daughter! If I had a choice, I'd throw her in front of a speeding train and watch her go SPLAT!"_

….Ofcourse, Raph cant tell Mr. Hiiro that.

"Yes." Raph says using a good guy façade

"Good. However, as a father, it is my duty to worry about my daughter's future and well being. As such, I ran a background check on you….. and something disturbing has caught my attention."Mr. Hiiro makes a serious face. "It seems that you've established relationships with 2 other young ladies. One of them is your very own sister. Please explain"

"_Damn rich people! If you have money to spy on people, donate it to the Red Cross damn it!"_ Raph thinks in frustration.

Suddenly, an opportunity unexpectedly presents itself.

Mr. Hiiro seems to be a decent fellow who deeply cares for his daughter. If Raph plays his cards right, he could turn this potentially bad situation into a disaster of the ages.

"_I haven't used it in a while…. but lets go with the bad guy persona"_

Raph takes deep breath. A second later, he flashes the most diabolic smile in his arsenal.

"*sigh* Cat's out of the bag already? Well, that's fine. I cant stand this goody two shoes act anyways" Raph replies in an arrogant manner, which catches his audience by surprise. "Well then…. Where to begin... For starters, I am a very greedy person. If I find something of interest, I'll do whatever it takes to take it. Your daughter just happens to be one of them"

"…. And your sister?" Mr. Hiiro asks coldly

"If you have the resources to do a background check, you should know about my sister's condition right?" Raph asks, which Mr. Hiiro nods in reply. "Thanks to her Albinism, I spent most of my life defending her from bullies and alike. I'd be damn if I entrust her to some random guy after all the care I've invested on her."

"Even going as far as committing incest?"

"If you're willing to spend a mint on background checks for your daughter, then I'm willing to do anything to protect my sister."

Its not like Raph had a choice in the matter. The whole thing was literally shoved into his face.

"…. And what of the other girl. Kaori Kurashima?" Mr. Hiiro asks

"Well… I'm really fond of that girl. You could say she's my first legitimate love"

"And my daughter?"

"I want her…." Raph withholds the DEAD from his sentence.

"What makes you think that I'll just give her to you" Mr. Hiiro replies sternly.

Much to everyone's surprise, Raph lets loose an evil laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! You're don't understand Mr. Hiiro. Remi is already MINE!"

-:-

5 Minutes Later

School Cafeteria

"Mille Feuille, Éclair, Egg Pei, Blueberry Cheese Cake, Chiffon Cake and a chocolate milk to wash it down... One hell of a victory feast if I say so myself" Raph says as he surveys the food in front of him.

Across Raph, La Croix watches in disdain. "My friend…. do you plan on dying from diabetes? Not even women would eat that much sweets in one sitting."

"Shut it! This is the first, and most probably, last time I'll ever get to eat any of these! I am not gonna miss this chance!" Raph replies as he takes a bite out of the blueberry cheese cake.

"…. You know I'm paying for these right?"

Raph slams his fist into the table. "Damn Straight! Before my cash cow disappears, I SHALL DINE IN HELL!"

'_You scum….'_ Thought all of those who were within earshot of the two.

"Don't lie Raph. When we did a background check on you, your bank account contained fairly small fortune for a student." La Croix relies.

Raph stops eating and sighs. "Unlike you rich people, us average citizens value money. I wouldn't spend a single cent on a very perishable commodity as sweets. However…. If its free… then that is a different story"

"You are one cheap individual"

"WAHAHAHA! Flatery will get you nowhere! Anyways, I doubt that you came here just to give me free food. Tell me what you want…. And who is that guy?" Raph asks as he points to the fat man beside La Croix

"Him? He is irrelevant. *sigh* But if you must know, his name is Eduardo Ayala." La Croix replies with no interest.

"_Ouch…. And I thought Ange was cruel"_

True enough, the fat Eduardo Ayala looked very hurt. However, he silently takes the cruel treatment and concentrates on eating his food.

"Forget about him and let's talk business." La Croix says. " As you may know, after Sugou Nobuyuki Incident, the LaCroix Real Estates and many others bought ALO from Recto. Tell me Raph…. Do you play ALO?"

"Yup. No matter how traumatic SAO was, the gamer soul in me just wont die." Raph puffs his chest in pride

"Ho… good to hear. What race are you using?"

"All of them."

"Isnt that counter productive? Just focus on one race get stronger."

Raph shrugs in reply. "It's a habit of mine to check out all the possibilities before making a big decision."

"I see…. That is the proper mindest in business and many other scenerios. Anyways, what race fits your fancy"

"Hmmm…. Right now, its between the Salamanders and the Cat Siths." Raph replies. "The Cat Sith's heightened hearing and seeing fits my fighting style perfectly…. But I'm gonna have to go with the Salamanders."

"Realy? Why?"

"Fu fu fu…. Its obvious my friend…. Cat Guys are DISGUSTING! Can you imagine a guy with cat ears?! Even eating a pile of dung tastes better than being a cat guy!" Raph replies with passion

"…. What a stupid reason…." La Croix sighs.

"WAHAHAHA! Flatery will get you nowhere!" Raph laughs loudly

"*sigh* well whatever. Back to business. We've been planning on spicing up the game a bit, however, we need someone with great skill for the beta test to succeed" La Croix says.

"Then Kirito is your man. He has experience as a beta tester and he is the best in SAO."

La Croix thinks for a bit. "The hero of SAO huh? Unfortunately, we don't need heroes. What we need now are villains…. And you, my friend, fits the bill perfectly"

"Ho….. interesting sales pitch… " Raph says in interest.

"Ofcourse, who do you think you're talking to?" La Croix replies with confidence. He places a business card in front of Raph "If you're interested, head to the address written there. Our project will take about 3 weeks of close beta testing and 1 week of open beta testing, so tell your parents that you might come home late for a little while. "

"Is it that big of a project?" Raph drains his chocolate milk

"Its more of a one time event than a project. We wont be adding it to the game itself but it sure hell will be fun for the players." La Croix stretches out his hand to Raph. "I look forward to your endevores."

"Likewise I'm sure."Raph takes his hand and shakes it.

Raph cant believe his luck. Not only does he get to have fun with a never before seen feature of ALO, but he also manage to scare off Mr. Hiiro….

"_ALL IN ONE DAY! I'm on a roll baby!"_

Raph was so happy that nothing can possibly ruin his mood….. that is, until La Croix opened his big rich mouth.

"By the way, I was impressed with your acting skills back there. Too bad it backfired…"

Raph drops his egg pie in extreme shock. Raph does not and will not drop his egg pie even if there was a magnitude 10 earthquake. That's how extreme his shock is.

"W-what do you mean?" Raph asks in fear.

"What? Did you really think that Mr. Hiiro is a good guy?"

Raph nods in response. "At the very least, I thought he was a guy that deeply cared for his daughter."

"HAHAHAHAHA! I've known the guy for 5 years now and let me tell you this, the guy is pure evil! He just loves doing the good guy routine to keep the other party flatfooted. Remirura Hiiro is the 3rd of 7 children from his 5 wives. His love for Remi is more of mutual respect between 2 evil beings." La Croix replies.

"Le Damn…." Raph says in disbelief. "Then my act-"

"Had the opposite effect" La Croix continues. " Instead of scaring him off, you just made him more interested in you. Before I left the office, he said that you were nothing like your father. He also said that you have potential…. Whatever that means. "

Raph wanted to facepalm…. However, it was no longer enough to express his emotions….. thus he performes the legendary FACE DESK.

"_Oh god….. WHY?!"_

Speaking of the devil, the father and daughter combo approaches their table. Remi grabs Raph by the arm and hugs it.

"Congratulations! As expected of my beloved! To gain my father's approval is, by all means, no easy feat!" Said Remi.

Raph keeps calm and fights down the urge to strangle her to death.

"W-whats up?" He asks in the calmest voice he could muster.

Mr. Hiiro steps forward and replies. "Please gather your things. We are going to the hotel where I am currently staying. We have much to discuss. Oh, Ms. Angelica Norton and Ms. Kaori Kurashima are invited as well."

"Mr. Hiiro…. I would like to remind you that it is still in the middle of the day, and I am a student. I am obligued to remain in school." Raphael says, and to his surprise, Mr. Hiiro grins in response.

"Fret not. I have conviced the principal to excuse you 3 just this once." Mr. Hiiro replies

"_Covinced? Well.. that's putting it mildly…"_

Raphael looks at La Croix questioningly.

In response, La Croix leans near him and whispers. "Give it up man. The guy is gonna get what he wants, no matter what. "

"Are you freaking serious?! My future is hanging in the balance here!" Raph whispers back.

"He's gonna treat you to a lot of expensive sweets. Are you sure you want to miss this once in a lifetime experi-?"

Raph suddenly stands and rushes out of the cafeteria. "ALRIGHT! I'm gonna get Ange and Kaori!"

.

.

.

.

While running down the hall, Raph suddenly realizes something and grinds to a halt. He walks to the nearest wall and begins FACE WALLing

"…_.. I'VE BEEN HAD!"_

-:-

"What a retard…" La Croix said as he watched Raph dash out of the cafeteria. "Is this fine Mr. Ayala? "

Beside La Croix is no longer the silent, irrelevant person, but a person that has the power to decide's La Croix fate with a simple press of a button. Beside La Croix is the new head of CIA's supposedly non existent Cyber Sabotage Division.

"Its fine" Mr. Ayala replies in a calm manner. "Thank you for your assisntance Mr. La Croix."

"Its fine. However, I cant understand why you need a kid like him? Shouldn't you be recruiting professionals for whatever it is you guys do?"

"Its in a need-to-know basis Mr. La Croix, and you don't need to know. But let me tell you this… those who lived through SAO are in high demands in the new Cyber War. You shouldn't get too comfortable Mr. La Croix. Eventually, you will join the war. "Mr. Ayala stands and begins to leave. "Anyways, thanks again for the help. Your money will be wired to your account as promised. Good Day."

As La Croix watches the CIA agent leave the canteen, he cant help but be a bit worried of the series of events that he has just started.

"_I wish you good luck, Raphael Norton…. You're going to need it…."_

-:-

30 DAYS LATER

Bliss

Kaori Kurashima cant express her overwhelming joy right now. And how can she not be? It's already rare for her and Raphael to have a few moments alone. Add the fact that Kaori's competition have the beauty and bodies of models, she cant help but feel insecure of herself.

Luckily for, Raphael Norton is a (perverted) man with many fetishes. LOLIS sits at the top of his list along side BIG BOOBS and WHITE HAIR, which means that Kaori is at an equal ground with Angelica Norton the ice queen and Remirura Hiiro the blond ojousama.

But ofcourse, she a few big advantages over the 2.

First and foremost, she and Raph shares the same tastes in music. Both of them are fans of high adrenaline music such as Punk Rock, Rock n Roll, Nue Metal and many more. Thanks to that, they always sit beside each other to share Kaori's earphones.

Lastly, due to Raph's part time work, he shares a slightly long trip with Kaori for the past 30 days. Sure, the exhausted Raph mostly sleeps through the ride, but she does get to lean on him during that time.

"_It's a small win, but I'm not complaining"_ Kaori happily leans her head at the sleeping boy's shoulder.

5 minutes later, their bus approaches their destination, much to Kaori's displeasure.

"_*sigh* It cant be helped…"_

As much as she wants to wake up Raph in a gentle manner, there wasn't much time till they reach their stop. Without hesitation, she stabs one of her fingers in his gut, causing him to snap awake.

"Wake up! Our stop is here!"

"OUCH! Damn it! Wake me up in a gentle manner will ya?"

Kaori grabs Raph by the arm and drags him. "I'll do that later. Right now, we need to go"

They disembarked the bus and walked towards Kaori's home.

Despite her protests, Raph insists on walking her home.

"_For a perverted gamer, you do have your cool moments"_

But ofcourse, Kaori wont tell him that. Despite Raph's rare gentleman ways, he is a weirdo to the core. Who knows what will happen if she praises him like that.

They talk about trivial things as they walk.…. Though Kaori is very conscious about one thing.

She didn't know when it started or who started it, but she and Raph have been holding each other's hand, just like what lovers usually do.

Judging from Raph's usual carefree mood, he didn't even notice that they were holding hands.

"_But this is Raph we're talking about here… The guy is a good actor when he puts his mind into it." _Kaori thought. _"For all I know, he planned this all along"_

Ofcourse, Kaori didn't mind at all. On the contrary, if she didn't control herself, she'd be back flipping in pure happiness. In order to control her glee, she steers the conversation to something that they are both interested in.

"By the way, care to share any juicy info on the special boss event in ALO? " Kaori asks. "And don't give me the I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING crap. We know that you're one of the people working on it!"

Raph sighs in reply. "At this point in time, you guys probably know much more thanI do."

1 week ago, the ALO Moderators announced a special Boss Event in order for them to experiment a new mob scripting technique. The boss itself would be the most challenging boss anyone has ever faced…. Or so they say.

Since this is an experiment, the Moderators set a few rules to maximize their observation of the boss.

Rule 1: The boss is only available around 6 pm- 10 pm.

Rule 2: The maximum raid members are 30 people.

Rule 3: Once the player is defeated, he/she will be permanently banned from fighting the boss

Rule 4: It is a no flying zone

Despite these strict rules, many have attempted to kill the boss.

Why?

Because the prize for slaying the boss is astronomical.

Everyone in the raid group will recive the 2nd best weapon of their choosing. For example, EXCALIBUR is considered the best sword in the game, thus by beating the boss, the player would receive the 2nd best sword in the game, which happens to be the DEMONIC SWORD GRAM.

Anyways, from what they know, the boss only has 2 bars of life, which is why many players attempted to kill the boss right at the get go. However, despite the clear disadvantage, the boss remains unslain after 1 week.

Judging from the posts on ALO's forum, the defeated players called it UNREAL, BROKEN and UNBEATABLE. These posts pretty much scared most of the aspiring hopefuls to have a go.

And to make matters worse, just yesterday, General Eugene led his elite group against the boss… and was decimated in just 10 minutes.

And before Eugene was Alicia Rue's elite dragon riders.

And before Alica Rue was Sakuya's mage knights.

And finally, the last day of the 1 week event is upon them. This time around, Kirito organized a raid group amongst his friends. They were hoping that Raph could join them, however looks like Raph will be working till the end.

"*sigh* Klien and Kirito were really looking forward to partying with you for the 1st time in ALO." Kaori says.

"Yeah, me too. Oh well, I'll join you guys in some other boss." Raphael replies with a sigh.

"So…. Any tips you can offer" Kaori asks.

Raph thinks deeply for a second. "Hmm…. I cant help you much on the attack paterns, coz who ever coded that monstrosity stuffed way too much into that one character. However, I can tell you something to look out for."

"Oh? Lets hear it then!"

"When you see a black, spiral shaped sword, dodge with all your might. Only pure tanks can survive taking a hit from that sword."

"Oh… Now that you mention it, Ange and Agil are the closest we have to a tank… this might be a problem."

"WAHAHAHA! Don't worry about!" Raph reples in enthusiasm. "I'm sure you guys are all going to die."

"…. Oy… that isn't every encouraging"

"WAHAHAHA! I know!"

-:-

For another 10 minutes, they navigate the more rural streets of her neighborhood until they reached Kaori's 10 floor apartment. It is nothing fancy, but it's been her home since she was born.

The only complaint she has is the lack of any elevator service. She lives at the 10th floor, so it's a bit of a chore to climb up and down the stairs at a daily basis. On the plus side, it did give her the leg power that everyone in the karate club envies.

Before they can enter the building, Kaori stops Raph by the entrance. "This should be far enough. Thanks for the walk home."

"Eh? Really? I don't mind climbing up the 10 floors of doom you know?" Raph replies sarcastically

"Nyahahaha! As much as I want to see you break a sweat, you'll be late for your job" Kaori says."…. especially if my father gets a hold of you again….."

Raph laughs weakly. "Ah…. Ha ha ha… ha…. Right… I forgot about that guy. "

Touma Kurashima, Kaori's father, works as an Air Traffic Control officer along side Tsuboi Ryotaro (AKA Klein). Because they normally get paired in the graveyard shift, the two ended up becoming good friends. As such, most of her father's knowledge came from Klein's exaggerated description.

Thanks to that, father is really fond of Raph. He constantly presses Raph to marry Kaori sometime in the near future.

Though Kaori doesn't mind the idea (she secretly prays that it comes true), it does get very embarrassing when her father does it in public places.

FYI: Her father doesn't know that Raph has 3 lovers….. if he did, Raph would be stuffed in a box and shipped to Afghanistan as perishable goods.

" Well, I guess I'm heading out then. See ya tomorrow Kaori." Raph turns and leaves

"Hold on a bit!" Kaori pulls Raph back to her.

"Hm? What's wro-" Before Raph could finish his sentence, Kaori pulls his head down and sinks her lips into his.

After a couple of seconds, Kaori moves away.

"See you tomorrow Raph!" She dashes up the stairs, leaving the paralyzed Raph by the entrance.

She dashes up at full speed. Upon reaching the 5th floor, she runs out of steam and leans on the railings for a quick breather.

"_I CANT BELIVE I DID THAT!"_ Kaori facepalms in disbelief.

Did holding hands made her THAT happy?

"_*sigh*…. How Out of Chara of me…."_

As she tries to calm her overly happy heart, she spots Raph who was skipping like a young girl in love. From the looks of things, she isn't the only one who's overjoyed at the moment.

"_He he…. Weirdo to the core"_ She thought as she happily watches her beloved weirdo from a distance.

Suddenly, a heavy arm ignores the atmosphere and forces her back to reality, much to Kaori's annoyance.

Kaori angrily turns around to give the pest a piece of her mind….. that is, until she saw his face.

It was her father….. and he was smiling ear to ear….

"Fu fu fu…. Nice kiss Kaori!" Touma Kurashima says with a loud voice.

"…_. Crap…. This is going to be a long night…."_

_._

_._

_._

For the rest of the night, Touma Kurashima (Father), Anzu Kurashima (Mother), Mika and Rika Kurashima (Younger Twin sisters) teases Kaori Kurashima (Eldest sister) to no end.

-:-

Later that evening

NEW AINCARD

1st floor STARTING CITY

"Nya.. nyahahah…. nyahaha" Argo, a Puca, suppress her giggle and fails horribly, which effectively freaking out the others.

"Cease your infernal giggling Argo… tis unsettling…." Said Remilia, the golden haired Spriggan

"I am curious though, why are you giggling like a perverted old man." Asks Czarina, the white haired Imp.

"Nya ha ha, nooooooooooooothing~" Argo replied playfully

"Oi…. That pisses me off somehow…" Ange said in a displeased tone.

No one can blame Argo for being extatic though. She was able to scored major points against the 2 of the most beautiful girls in her school. There is no way she would be not happy.

The girls talk about trivial things until the rest of their group arrives.

One by one, the group assembled by Asuna and Kirito arrives, and Argo must say, their line up is filled with monstrous people.

Asuna, Kirito, Agil, Klein and his FUURINKAZAN, Czarina and her SILVER CROWS. All of them are well known front liners back in the SAO days, and all of them belonged in the 75th floor raid group. With massive amounts of experience and near perfect teamwork, it wouldn't be an exaggeration if they are called the best front liners in SAO

Next is Sylph Lyfa. As the best swordswoman of the Sylph race, Lyfa's swordsmanship is only second to SAO players. Argo has fought (and defeated) Lyfa a few times, thus there is no question of her skills.

There was also the Cat Sith archer named Sinon. Though Argo isn't really well acquainted with Sinon, she did watch the GGO's Bullet of Bullets Tournament and saw for herself how skilled Sinon is. Kirito said to Argo that Sinon can hit a moving target 200 meters with a bow that only has a max range of 100 meters.

Next up are the people with mediocre compared to the other members, namely Lisbeth and Silica. Argo has already partied with Lisbeth and Silica before so she already knows their combat prowess (which happens to be mediocre at best).

Argo is dead last in terms of combat capabilities, but not because she is weak, but because she chose to take a support role. Sure, she can still fight in the front lines with her skill set, but their party wont get far if they relied solely on Asuna to do the healing. Another dedicated healer would greatly improve their chance of survival.

However, there is one person Argo can't judge too well…. and that is Ojousama Remilia. Argo has seen Remilia's monstrous skill with a spear, yet for some reason, Argo has never even heard of her. Hell! Even her TOP 50 SAO BISHOUJO (which was the most accurate and best selling list at the time... 10k gold) didn't even mention Remilia. She hates to admit it, but Remilia is definitely one of the prettiest girls in SAO.

All in all, Argo is suspicious of Remilia. However, if Raph accepts her, then she'll let it pass…. For now.

A few minutes later, the group gathers at the center of town and awaits the appearance of the portal to the battleground.

"Alright everyone! Gather around" Kirito calls everyone's attention. "We'll be reviewing all the info we were able to gather"

Everyone gathers around Kirito.

"Yui? If you please?" Kirito says

A small navigation pixie shoots out of his pocket and stands on top of Kirito's head.

"Ahem. I shall now review the sum of all the info gathered by you and those I have searched from the net." Said the small pixie.

Yui begins her summary

First: Though the boss has only 2 life bars, it makes up its lack of defense with overwhelming offense. Based on the posts on countless forums, the boss was seen using broadswords, scythes, whips, bows, longswords, shields, knifes, chains, etc. There were even times that it used 2 two handed weapons at the same time. It is safe to assume that the boss is capable of using all weapons and their corresponding skills.

Second: The battlefield is in a ruined castle setting. Expect the boss to fight unfairly while taking advantage of the terrain.

Third: When the first bar is reduced by 75%, the boss will start using heavy weapons as projectiles. This is the main reason why no one was able to reduce the boss's life to the first bar.

Last: Because no one has able to reduce its life below the 2nd bar, there might be some other skills that the boss has not revealed yet.

The group takes a second of silence to digest the words of Yui.

Klein breaks the silence. "So…. In short, we'll find out when we get there, correct?"

"That's the gist of it." Kirito replies.

"Then what the hell are we waiting for?!" Klein pumps his fist in the air. "If we're going in blind, might as well go in with guns blazing!"

"Right! No need to think! Just do!" Agil roars

""YEAH!""

With everyone at high morale, the group approaches the GM at the center of town and registers their names.

The GM opens a portal and sends the group to the floor where the special boss resides

-:-

100th floor SCARLET JADE CASTLE

Before Argo could notice, their group was already standing within a large extravagant white hall, similar to what is normally shown in those animes with medival settings. At the end of the hall is a fancy throne that is befitting for a king.

More importantly, beside the throne stands a massive mirror and infront of that mirror is a woman of ethereal beauty. She sports a wavy, waist long, dark blue hair, a pure white Sunday dress and she is walking on her bare feet.

The group cant help but silently watch the beauty twirls infront of the mirror. Even Argo is enthralled by the womans beauty… that's just how beautiful she is.

A few seconds later, the woman notices their prescence.

"Ah… Forgive me. I was too enthralled with my beauty that I failed to notice your prescence. " The woman says.

"_What an ego maniac."_ Thought everyone.

"I promise to entertain you in a moment, I swear on my honor. So please ,allow me to indulge in my beauty for a few more seconds. May I have your permission to do so?" Said the woman

"S-sure… go ahead." Kirito replied

"You have my thanks springgan." The woman says.

She then returns to admiring herself, leaving the group dumbfounded.

20 seconds later, the woman nods in satisfaction and turns her attention to the group.

"Do forgive my rudeness. It is must be a sin for such a beauty to exist, yet I must carry the burden because no one can!" The woman says with some exaggerated gestures. "Back to the topic at hand. May I ask what business do you have in my house?"

"Ah… right, we're hear to challenge the floor boss." Asuna replies

"You wish to duel with me? Very well. I shall grant you the honor of being defeated by me, be thankful pesants!" The woman replies. "I shall give you 1 last minute to prepare. I refuse to fight any enemies who are not in their best."

Setting the boss's cheeky attitude aside, the group quickly runs one last check to ensure their preparedness.

In Argo's case, she cant be as prepared as she is right now. Using the Puca's PERFORMANCE CONTAINMENT ability, Argo has bottled tons of healing songs for future use. In addition to that, she also has her ever trusty LIME BELL, a very rare, Puca restricted weapon. It allows her to use the magic CITRON CALL, a powerful, instant cast, AOE heal with a very long cooldown.

"Is everyone ready?" Asuna asks, and receives multiple nods in response. "I see… then let the batt-"

"Wait Mama!" Yui suddenly shoots out of Kirito's pocket. "There is something important that I must tell you all."

Everyone's attention turns to the little pixie.

"Everyone, please be careful in fighting this boss… She is not normal" Said Yui

"Well, even if she is a prototype, she is still the final boss of Aincard. Its natural that we take extra care in fighting her." Replied Lizbeth in a matter of fact manner

"No Lizbeth. This boss is fundamentally different from anything in the game." Yui says with a serious expression. "In terms of the size of the data alone, she rivals that of the entire JOTUNHEIMR dungeon"

The news stuns everyone.

Kirito speaks up in disbelief. "H-hold on…. A code of an entire map is crammed into a single Boss? That means-"

"Papa… with the large amount of combat logic at its desposal, it will be impossible to find out a specific set of attack patterns." Yui replies with a grave voice. "This one will be the most powerful foe we have ever faced…. And she's still set at her weakened state."

The group looks at the boss in shock.

As if enjoying the attention she's getting, the boss arms herself for battle. She snaps her fingers, and in an instant, her white Sunday dress was replaced with white heavy armor.

Asuna gasps. "N-no way…. The KoB armor?!"

Though it lacked any red, it is, without a shadow of a doubt, the Knights of the Blood Armor. Any SAO survivor would be surprised.

As if adding insult to injury, the boss summons a cross shaped tower shield. Once again, the SAO survivors gasps at the sight of the oh-so-familiar shield, much to the boss' amusement . She draws a long sword from the shield and stands at the ready.

And for the _piece de resistance_, the white knights name, along with its 2 life bars, appear for everyone to see.

"I, HEATHCLIFF, accept your challenge. Come at me, brave warriors of the sword! Come at me and DIE!"

With a calm and beautiful voice, the knight announces the beginning of their end.

-:-

"WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THIS GIRL! SHE'S TOO MUCH?!" Klein pounds his fist on a nearby wall.

Who can blame him, especially after what they've been through.

7 measly minutes since the start of the battle… and the group is already battered to such an extent.

Since the beginning of the battle, HEATHCLIFF has proven to be a formidable swordswoman by fighting off 22 players all at once. She used the confusing terrain of the ruins to hinder the group from surrounding her, and striking back at the same time. Combined with her skillful use of the LIBERATOR, HEATHCLIFF's defense was top notch.

With numbers in their side, the group surrounds HEATHCLIFF and makes short work of her hp, dropping it by 50% within the first 3 minutes….. but that advantage was short lived.

The moment the white knight's hp hit 50%, she discards the LIBERATOR and began summoning different types of weapons, causing much confusion to the group as they try to readjust their strategy against her.

The first casualty was Agil after receiving a spear to the right leg, 2 one hand axe to the chest, a dagger to the throat and a war hammer to the face.

From that point onward, it became an annoying game of cat and mouse/ hide and seek.

The boss ran around the maze like ruin and utilized the countless hidden pathways in order to lose the group. Once they lost sight of her, she began ambushing them, which gave the group a whole new set of headaches to deal with.

SNEAK ATTACK does X3 damage on a target that is not conscious of the presence of the attacker. Normally, dagger users enjoy this benefit the most due to their light weight weapons and armors, which allows them to move quickly and quietly around the battlefield.

However…. Thanks to HEATHCLIFF's sword summoning abilities, she can use heavier weapons in SNEAK ATTACKS…. And to devastating effect, which Silica found out the hard way.

As they desperately tried to track down the white knight, Silica was suddenly crushed by the strongest weapon type in SAO and ALO, the ZWEIHANDER. Before the group could comprehend what happened, HEATHCLIFF equips a No Dachi, rushes at the closest target, which happens to be Lizbeth, and executes the 3 hit Sword Skill TSUBANE GAESHI, slaying Lizbeth in one go.

The first to react was the 2 spear wielders of the SILVER CROW. They attack the white knight, but they were savagely dispatched in a way similar to the Assassins Creed 3 Double Sync Kill.

Kirito attempts to capitalize and charges at HEATHCLIFF… only to realize that her hp has now gone down below 75% after fighting off the SILVER CROWs.

Before Kirito could warn everyone, the white knight slams her fist into the ground. At the same time, countless weapons sprouts out the ground to impale her enemies.

The only ones who were not damaged were Kirito, who was able to jump, and Sinon, who was too far away. Everyone else HP dropped 30-50% depending on their armor.

Without missing a beat, HEATHCLIFF raises her right hand and 20 different weapons appeared out of thin air, all of which are aimed at Asuna and Argo. With the snap of her finger, the weapons fly mercilessly at the 2 healers.

In a desperate attempt to save the healers, the FUURINKAZAN acted as meat shields and took the swords in their place. Everyone aside from Klein was KIA.

Battered as they are, Asuna called a retreat. Kirito, Sinon and the 2 shielders of SILVER CROW cover the retreat

And that brings them to their present predicament

…. And things arent looking good

Argo takes out LIME BELL and rings it to activate CITRON CALL. The spell fully heals everyone in the vicinity. The beauty of LIME BELL is its ability to replenish HP and Mana to its fullest. The drawback is its 1 minute long cooldown.

"So… how do we do this?" Argo asks as she peeks out of cover to check if the white knight is approaching.

For now, they're on the clear.

"I don't know…. This boss is nothing we've ever face before. She's too nimble and her attack pattern is all over the place." Asuna replies. "If we only had more information, we could have planned this better…"

A bitter silence spreads through the group.

After a second in silence, Kirito speaks up."No… we can actually win this… we just misunderstood the strategy to beat her."

"You on to something Kirito?" Klein asks

"Her main weakness is how fragile she is. Everyone should have noticed how fast we're shaving off her life right?" Kirito says

"Now that you mention it…"

The group has been so overwhelmed by HEATHCLIFF's overwhelming firepower that they failed to notice that they have already took 80% of the 1st bar, in only 7 minutes.

"There was never any need for a complex strategy." Kirito says. "This is a battle of attrition. We have to kill her before she wipe us out"

"We don't need a strategy? On what proof are you basing that on Kirito?" Sinon asks.

"The prize Sinon. The Prize." Kirito replies "Haven't you wondered why EVERYONE in the party gets the prize instead of the traditional LAST HIT bonus?"

It didn't even take a second for everyone to connect the dots.

"This battle is simply to test the boss' AI, and the players are just test subjects" Kirito says with conviction. "The creators made sure the boss had weak defenses to make it beatable. Do you guys understand?"

"…. So you're saying that as long as one of us survives, we win?" Czarina asks

"Exactly"

Klein stands and with a cool poses, he says." Overly simplistic plan with little chance of success? What the hell are we waiting for?!"

-:-

13 minutes into the battle

"ARG! I cant stand this waiting!" Argo ruffles her hair in impatience. "Sinon, are you sure we still cant head out?"

Sinon keeps her eyes closed and concentrates on listening to her surroundings. "No…. not yet."

Argo sighs. "I hope Kirito knows what he's doing…. We already lost 2 people to this insane plan"

"Calm yourself Argo. Tis was the correct course of action if we want to minimize our loses and maximize our fighting strength" Remilia replies.

"…. Fine…. But if this plan fails, I'll kick Kirito in the butt!"

Their plan was so stupidly simple that most of them doubt it'll work. The strategy is to send the toughest players out as bait while Sinon keeps close tabs on them from a distance. Once they draw out HEATHCLIFF, they are to delay her for as long as possible. Sinon would alert everyone, and they would swarm to where HEATHCLIFF is.

So far, its going horribly.

There are 4 baits. The 2 shielders of the SILVER CROW, Czarina and (surprisingly) Kirito. And out of those 4, the shielders has already fallen to HEATHCLIFF's ambushes.

According to Sinon, the shielders were slain in 4 seconds flat. That is a testament to the white knights skill and combat prowess.

Sinon suddenly stands at attention with her ears standing straight up. "Someone is fighting…. From this direction…. Kirito's holding HEATHCLIFF off! LETS GO!"

The group moved with military precision. It only took them 15 seconds to reach the battle. At their arrival, the battle that greeted them was something straight out of a myth.

At the center of a ruined dance floor, the pair of black and white engaged in an endless waltz of blades, with neither taking the lead nor following the flow. And for their background music, the endless clash of steel against steel.

The black, dual bladed swordsman and the white knight clashed so violently that the air around them shook asunder.

However, the thing that awed the group was the wide sadistic smile that are plastered on the dancers face. At this very moment, both Kirito and HEATHCLIFF are fighting not for the prize nor for the glory, but for the sake of fighting itself.

To them, this battle is pure bliss.

Kirito fought like mad man, striking at the enemy with blinding speed. However, he could not gain any ground against the enemy's confusing fighting style. Each time the white knight struck, the weapon in her hand is never the same as the one that she used a second ago.

On the plus side, due to Kirito's godlike reaction time, none of the weapons could make a clean and decisive hit. As a result, Kirito and HEATHCLIFF was forced into a stalemate.

But it didn't really matter to the two, because right now, they are only concerned with trading blows with one another.

However, Kirito was not alone. As planned, everyone in the group swarmed at Kirito's location and ganged up on HEATHCLIFF.

Klain got to HEATHCLIFF first and struck her in the back….. a big mistake

"ANNOYING CUR!" Roared the white knight.

She summoned a ZWEIHANDER and executes the sword skill WHIRLWIND, blowing back Kirito and Klein in the process. In one fluid motion, HEATHCLIFF discards the zweihander, jumps as high as she can go and crushes Klein with 2 warhammers.

Without missing a beat, HEATHCLIFF summons 20 weapons and launches them at the incoming group. Most were harmless as the group hid behind the debris, but HEATHCLIFF followed right after the blades hit the walls. She catches Lyfa by surprise, impales the Sylph with jousting lance and pushes her into the wall. The white knight then turns Lyfa into a pincushion as she sticks weapon after weapon into the poor girl, eliminating her in the process.

Before HEATHCLIFF could turn to her next target, Kirito lands 2 clean blows on her. The white knight runs away with all of her might, but the continuous rain of arrows hinders her escape, allowing Kirito and Asuna to catch up with her.

The white knight summons the LIBERATOR and futily defends herself against the onslaught of 2 of the best players in SAO. Despite using the best defensive weapon available, it didn't take 15 seconds for HEATHCLIFF's life to drop to 60% of the last health bar.

In desperation, she summons a large fan and swung it with all of her might. It blows everyone 20 feet back and causing absolutely no damage.

She then summons a weird looking sword. Its black blade is spherical and blunt, almost making it look like a drill. The three section blade began spinning in opposite directions, as if charging for something big.

The white knight calmly face the group and asks. "I am overjoyed of trading blows with such skilled warriors. Undine, Spriggan. May I inquire your names?"

"Kirito" replied the Spriggan as he stands at the ready

"Asuna" the Undine followed suite

"I see… Kirito and Asuna! I commend your superior fighting abilities! To drop my HP to such an extent is a feat like no other" HEATHCLIFF replies as she raises the spherical sword "YOU ARE WORTHY OF MY FULL POWER!"

The drill like sword spins faster, creating a massive red whirlwind around the sword.

Upon realizing that something was up, Kirito dashes towards the boss with Asuna close behind.

Suddenly, Argo remembers something very important. Due to the intensity of the battle, Argo has completely forgotten Raphael's very important warning.

"Wait! Dodg-" Argo yells, but it was far too late.

Only 4 meters from HEATHCLIFF, Kirito raises both of his swords to strike…. But it was also far too late.

"BEHOLD! ENUMA ELISH!"

Before Argo could react, the world is engulfed by a red hurricane….. then everything fades to black.

.

.

.

.

Argo looks down from the ceiling of the Scarlet Jade Castle. Right now, she is in spectator mode just like the others who have fallen before her.

"My god….. What kind of weed has those creators been smoking?!" Czarina roars in frustration" How were we suppose to survive THAT?!"

THAT is refered to the monstrous ability called the ENUMA ELISH.

It was a massive, 45 degree cone shaped AOE attack, with an unspecified range. Based on what they can see from above, everything… and I do mean EVERYTHING within that cone is sent to oblivion. Be it players or debris, anything within that cone is destroyed. Even Sinon, who was able to hide behind a fallen pillar, was turned into dust along with the pillar.

And here's the punch line.

¼ of the SCARLET JADE PALACE was blown to bits. That is the reason they could see the world of ALO from where they are currently positioned.

"Hey… isn't the walls suppose to be IMMORTAL OBJECTS?" Lyfa asks.

"Maybe they changed the code within the SCARLET JADE PALACE. Who knows." Kirito replies. "Anyways, I doubt that they'd add that insane skill without any counters."

"Nyahahaha…. I actually forgot to tell you guys about that one…." Argo says meekly. Everyone's eyes focuses on her, making her very uncomfortable

Suddenly, someone grabs Argo's head and painfully twists 180 degrees.

"Argo…. What do you mean?" Czarina asks as she increases the preasure of her hold on Argo's head.

Fortunately, all of them are dead, so there is nothing Czarina can do to actually damage Argo. Never the less, Czarina is terrifying when she's pissed off.

"w-well… you see…. Raph warned me about that sword…" Argo pauses as Czarina's grip becomes even stronger at the metion of Raph. "… h-he said that only pure tanks could survive that."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT EARLIER!?" Czarina punches Argo repeatedly. However, since they are both dead, the action does nothing.

"Well *BASH* You see *BASH* I kinda *BASH* forgot *BASH* because *BASH* we had *BASH* so such a *BASH* serious *BASH* atmosphere *BASH*" Argo explains while Czarina was still smashing her face in.

"Hmm…. So that was her plan all along" Kirito says. "I was wondering why she went for the shielders first. If you think of it logically, shielders are the toughest ones in the game. If she wasn't able to pull off those ambushes so well, she would have paid for it"

"True. Yet she did it. HEATHCLIFF pulled off some crazy moves out there. Nothing like the HEATHCLIFF I knew" Asuna replies

"Well, it is an AI coded by programmers. It shouldn't be a surprise that the HEATHCLIFF now was the same person you guys knew in SAO " Sinon calmly offers her opinion.

Everyone nods in agreement Sinon.

"Though I agree with your statement Sinon…. There is something that has struck me odd." Remilia says

"hmm… you too huh?" Kirito replies

"Eh? What do you mean" Klein asks.

Kirito and Remilia looks at each other. Remilia then gestures Kirito to go ahead.

"Ahem… Well then. HEATHCLIFF's fighting style reminded me of a very powerful player back in- "

"Cut the melodramatics and out with it!" Czarina roars in frustration while sinking her fist into Argo's face.

With a sigh, Kirito replies. "She reminds me of FAUX"

Everyone is shocked to hear the name they really didn't expect to hear. As they dwell into deep thought, murmurs of agreement surfaces among the group.

"Yeah… now that you mention it… " Klein murmurs.

"Right?" Kirito says. "I could see Faux in everything that HEATHCLIFF did. The way she used the terrain to hinder a large group. The way she took down specific targets that would hinder her later on. The way that she always seems to be one step ahead of us. And ofcourse, the level of violence she dishes out once the enemy is cornered. All of those have Faux's signature written all over it."

"It is as Kirito-sama says" Remilia adds. "If my conjecture is accurate, I could count atleast 2 instances where HEATHCLIFF allowed herself to be surrounded. My theory is she wants her HP to drop for her to access her more advance skills. Such sacrificial and risky strategy is reminiscent to Faux-sama's combat logic"

Every SAO survivor nods in agreement.

"Fu fu fu…. HAHAHAHAHA!" Czarina suddenly laughs diabolically, surprising everyone in the process. "I see…. I SEE! So my beloved Ani-sama dared to hinder me from getting better equipments. VERY WELL! I shall LOVINGLY ask him when he gets home later. ANI-SAMA, PREPARE YOURSELF!"

The group can do nothing but silently pray for Faux's safety.

-:-

A round of applause greets Raph as he exits his dive. All 20 staff of ALO was on their feet and cheered like someone just won the NBA finals.

"Raphael Norton! Unbelievable performance!" La Croix says as he slaps Raph in the back. "I never seen you fight in SAO, but I guess those rumors of you might not be exaggerated at all!"

"What can I say? There is nothing I can do with the right incentive." Raph replies calmly

"As much as I want to call you a greedy bastard, I am still at awe on how godlike you are!" La Croix keeps hitting him in the back. "This one was fitting for the last battle of our little event. Who knows, we might even show the clips to the general populace! Either way, well played Raphael Norton, well played indeed."

Raph stands and looks at La Croix seriously. "Do what you want. Anyways, where's my INCENTIVE?"

"You greedy bastard…. Well whatever. You've earned it." La Croix hands Raph a disk. "$1000 has been deposited to the account you specified…. And here's the account you requested. The username is LAZNI, the password will be set by the first thing you input. Just install the program into your pc and you're good to go."

"And what about the settings?"

"Done as you requrested. This account is gender locked to female"

"Mwha…. Mwahahaha….. MWAHAHAHAHA! Loli Cat Sith is now within my grasp! MWAHAHAHA!" Raph laughs maniacly

"….. pervert…" La Croix sighs

"Flatery will get you nowhere!" Raphael triumphantly puffs his chest. "Well, anyways. Thanks for allowing me to be a bad guy. I'll head on out first."

"Hold on! You're not going to join the celebration? I even ordered sushi and beer"

"Nah. I'll pass, I don't drink. Besides, I have a new toy to play with. I've worked for a month for this, no way I'm going to wait another second!"

"I see… Then I wont keep you then. Have fun"

The one month of work(?) ends in high spirits as Raph heads home in a good mood….. that is, until he met Ange….

-:-

5 days later

ARLINGTON COUNTRY, VIRGINIA

THE PENTAGON

"Interesting line up you got here Mr. Ayala…." Said the annoyed Mrs. Judith Harlington, the current Secretary of Defense. "Are you telling me that you're planning to recruit civilians into this program?"

"That is correct Madam Secretary" Eduardo Ayala calmly replied…. And as he expected, a solid object comes flying at him (this time aroud it was a mug of coffee). He uses his suitecase and blocks the incoming projectile

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME YOU DUMBASS!" The Secretary roars. "You were given a blank check and all the authority you needed just so you can start up this program! And you're telling me, that instead of selecting the brightest computer hackers in many different schools, you're going to recruit GAMERS who knows shit about the stakes at hand?! BULL-FUCKING-SHIT!"

"Calm yourself Madam Secretary and let me explain"

"Oh! You actually have a plan, Fatass? Come on! Out with it!" Mrs. Harlington replied sarcastically. "How are you going to pull off this crap with GAMERS as your main operatives?!"

Eduardo Ayala calms his mind and speaks the scipt he has practiced and memorized just for this event.

"Madam Secretary, if we follow the traditional method of hacking the outside or sending in a strike team to blow the place sky high…. Well…. we'll have another fiasco like the former CSD (Cyber Sabotage Division) head." Eduardo explains calmly, causing Mrs. Harlington to flinch

Ever since the release of the WORLD SEED, hundres of thousands of VMMO's sprouted like weeds. While majority of them are harmless, there are those VMMO's that posed a threat, not only to National Security, but to humanity as a whole.

One of which was the Sugou Noboyuki case. A certain company in China was able to buy the Soul Manipulation technology from Sugou and even promised to _HELP_ him with his trial. They even made a pirated version of ALO and scattered it in main land China, using their own people as test subjects.

When the CIA caught on to this, they decided that the technology is a threat that must be destroyed.

They tried hacking it externally, which ignited a secret cyber war between the two. After 3 months of the constant cyber warfare, the former CSD head made a horrible call and decided to send a strike team. As a result, the company destroyed in a "_Gas Explosion", _which also set the town on the objective was achived, the collateral damage was high.

Till this day, no one was able to determine the cause of the gas explosion. But one thing is for sure, the rash decision of the CSD almost put the USA in a very tight spot. The CSD Head was sacked from his post, and is replaced by Eduardo Ayala.

"Do you understand now Madam Secretary? The virtual realm is a place that many of you old fashion politicians have no idea about" Said Eduardo. "The appearance of the WORLD SEED has set a new theater of war that many of our top agents cant even understand. If Uncle Sam wants to keep his hands clean, then the destruction of these worlds must be from within. And no one is more familiar with the cyber realm as the avid gamers that dwell within them"

Ofcourse, Mrs. Harlington didn't take that well, but Eduardo Ayala can see in her face that she had to accept that the new war no longer followed the rules that she is familiar with.

Mrs. Harlington rubs her forehead in frustration."What makes you think that you even understand how the new battlefield works?"

"Madam Secretary, in my former post in the Area 51 think tank, a working version of the VMMORPG has already existed 5 years before the SAO incident." Eduardo Ayala replies. "I may not have been part of the development team, but I was one of the beta testers of that system. I can assure you, I am well versed in the rules of the new battlefield"

Mrs. Harlington decends into silence once again. A few seconds later, she sighs in resignation. "Fine…. So be it. I'll approve your plan for the CSD's REAPER project. This better work or I'll have you roasted alive for this."

"Thank you Madam Secretary" Eduardo replied.

"Well then… let's start with these potential candidates of yours." Mrs. Harlington picks up the first folder on top of the pile. "Raphael Arisato Norton…"

-:-


	13. AUTHOR'S NOTES 2

**AUTHORS NOTES**

Ahem…. This AN marks the end of a fairly short arc(?) of COUNTER GUARDIAN. As promised, the next arc will begin…. However… there is a _slight_ problem

Due to the sudden spike in work for the past week, I haven't been able to make much headway. And worse yet, I was hit with multiple inspirations during that time. Now I am plagued by indecision on which story to write about!

Originally, I already have a vague outline of what is to come, but the 2 other themes simply refused to die, which makes it hard to concentrate.

And that's why I turn to you people. I would like to ask your opinion on which story sounds more interesting. I've set up a poll so feel free to vote. Explanations to why you guys voted it are very welcome. Ideas and suggestions are much appreciated.

The next arc will be a television show where the players use a VIRTUAL VISUAL NOVEL as their set. Their memories will be blocked and their brain process are accelerated 10000 times faster…. And all of these are not known to players, producers and viewers of the program.

Anyways, here are the settings.

-:-

MEDIEVAL STORY

Set medieval fantasy continent of FORSENA where a fragile alliance between the dominant forces of Light and the silent forces of Darkness is being threatened by greed and racism. In this world, GOODNESS is a rare commodity and EVIL is mainstream, even in the forces of Light.

This is the story that I originally planned to write about.

This story has been heavily influenced by one of the most sadistic games in history, DARK SOULS. I loved the hopeless, gritty and savage theme. I especially love how the game requires you to strategies carefully or else…. You die. Hell, even if you strategize and tread carefully, you'll still die.

However, seeing how this a SAO fanfic, I have to mix some light hearted shounen events amongst the doom and gloom, but I don't mind.

Compared to the other stories, this one was only developed 2 months ago.

-:-

MODERN MAGIC STORY

Set in a modern society where magic is well known. The conflict lies amongst the different elements of magic (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light and Dark) and their constant struggle to stand on top of the others.

The manga MxOis a large influence in the creation of this fanfiction. The idea of a school dedicated to magic was very appealing to the younger me, however, as I grew older, I acquired the taste for dark themed stories. This acquired taste eventually changed the original story into something else entirely.

This is also the very first fanfic I was able to formulate. Hell, I didn't even know even existed back then!

-:-

WORLD WAR 2 STORY

A bunch of young mages were chosen by the gods to play a certain game. They are sent back in time and they were given the chance to change the course of history. The only rule in the game is to destroy the other players. With very limited magic at their disposal, they must find a way to control a nation and conquer the world. The winner will have one wish be fulfilled regardless of how absurd it is.

This one was inspired from the ODA NOBUNA NO YABO light novels, KOI HIME MUSOU anime/games and SENGOKU RANCE games…. But more importantly, the anime that served as the foundation of it all is GIRLS UND PANZERS!

And because this is a Japanese themed game, history will be screwed over…. Badly!

FACT: Theodore Roosevelt is MALE

JAPAN LOGIC: King Arthur (Fate/Stay Night), Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobuna no Yabo) and pretty much every character in the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms (Koi Hime Musou) are FEMALE! It goes without saying that Theodore Roosevelt is also FEMALE….. F*ck History!

Ofcourse, since I am the author, the overall theme is still very dark. You cant be happy go lucky in war, right?

This one was created sometime last year, about the same time as GuP was aired. So far, this story has been getting a slight up in priority compared to the other 2.

-:-

Anyways, here are my ideas. Please help me out. Remember, ideas and suggestions are most welcome. Thanks

PS: The VIRTUAL VISUAL NOVEL is an EROGE…. But don't count on me writing the yummy scenes.


	14. PRIMER

**-:-**

**AUTHORS NOTES**

**Fist things first**

Alright… I'm sure you're wondering, WHY THE HELL DID HE WRITE A PRIMER?!

To answer that, I would like to turn your attention to SAO Volume 9 Prologue 1 or more commonly known as the first chapter of the Alicization Arc.

It's a DAMN TEXT WALL!

Reki Kawahara had to explain the new setting to the audience, so it cant be helped.

Now I know this is just my opinion, but who the hell enjoyed reading that damn chapter?! I actually lost patience with that chapter and ended up skimming a vast majority of it.

With that in mind, I decided to condense it all the important stuff into a PRIMER and hope that the audience can get the gist of it.

**Second**

I would like to thank AEONIR for his insights. This chapter was suppose to be uploaded about 2 days after the last Authors Notes, but AEONIR's pm's caused me to rethink tons of details about the following arc, thus resulting in the fairly long delay.

Never the less, he pointed out a lot of fatal flaws that I have overlooked, which allowed me to write the next arc better.

**Lastly**

Let's talk about the next game.

The game is called THE WAR OF FORSENA.

Though it is a game, it is actually a Television series which was shot within a game that runs similarly to the RATH System.

However, seeing how this is a game where there are no clear winners, the creators turned it into a secret high stakes gamble with billions of dollars at stake. Each SPONSOR will send in their players and watch as the story unfolds.

Raph, on the other hand, has his eyes set on a new target that must be eliminated

**-:-**

**PRIMER**

**-:-**

**IMPORTANT PAST EVENTS**

GREAT REAPING STORM- the name of a continental size storm that brought forth DEMONS into the world 800 years prior to the story. The world's population dropped 89% after the 3rd year since the storm appeared.

SAGES- A highly advanced race of magicians and scientists that spear headed the anti-demon research. By performing horrific experiments on people (such as injecting demonic blood into the populace), they were able create races that were specifically designed to battle the demons .

ANTEDILUVIAN- the name given to those who belong to the 3rd Generation anti-demon races. They are the strongest and the most mentally stable prototypes (they didn't go insane). They also served as the blue prints for all future demon hunter races.

STORM WALL- 100 years after the appearance of the GREAT REAPING STORM, the SAGES and their allies were able to suppress and contain it within a massive wall. It is billions of kilometers long, 500 meters high and 100 meters thick. It forms a massive circle across 10 continents in order to keep the GREAT REAPING STORM over a deserted area. Though it is deemed impossible to forcefully close the storm, they soon discover that it was slowly getting smaller. Though they have no idea how long it will take, they only needed to wait until it collapses.

THE 1st FORSENA CIVIL WAR- Thanks to the STORM WALL, the demon hunter races became unnecessary. Seeing how they had demon blood in their veins, the SAGES viewed them as a threat and decided to have them disposed. Though greatly outnumbered, the demon hunter races proved to be as powerful as the demons they were sworn to destroy.

At the end of the civil war, the demon hunter races were forced to retreat within the STORM WALL due to the massive difference in numbers. On the other hand, the SAGES were hunted down to extinction and their allies lost many troops.

Thus started the division between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.

THE IZUMO PACT- 300 years since the 1st FORSENA CIVIL WAR, it was discovered that the STORM WALL was not without flaws as demons began spawning outside the wall. The forces of light tried to suppress the beasts, but their inexperience normally led to large loss of life per demon defeated.

In desperation, the forces of light asked the forces of darkness for help. After a few months of negations and heavy losses, the opposing fronts agreed on a deal. The forces of light secretly pays the demon hunters for protection, and in turn, the demon hunters are allowed to join the forces of light. They entered a non aggression pact, and even though it is very unstable, it brought them a long period of peace.

OPERATION "EYE OF THE STORM"- About the same time as the Izumo Pact, the Demon Hunters discovers that the Great Reaping Storm is a massive gate that leads directly to the realm of the Gods. Ofcourse, they don't really give a damn about the Gods, but the opportunity to actually enter the gate and stop majority of the demon hordes from exiting made them mount a massive offensive towards the realm of the Gods.

After 500 years of constant warfare, the Demon Hunters were only able to occupy the 1st 100 kilometers of the god-who-knows-how-many trillion kilometer wilderness of the Great Reaping Storm. On the flipside, the appearance of demons outside the Storm Wall dropped by half, thus forcing them to rotate their troops to prevent over fatigue. 75% of their troops are stationed within the storm and 25% were to hunt down the demons that got outside the wall.

An unexpected bonus was also rewarded to the Demon Hunters. Due to the endless amounts of opponents within the Storm, those who were fighting enjoyed a rapid increase in strength.

**OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF**

GODS- In the game's lore, they are immortal beings that want to kill each other simply because they cant stand each other. However, since they are IMMORTAL, they cant kill each other no matter what they do. The only thing they can do is use mortals as their chess pieces and have them kill the other god's followers.

However, aside from the special skill that they give to their chosen pawns, they are pretty much useless to the players.

IEYASU SHOGUNATE- The defcato rulers of the forces of light. As the name states, most of the forces of light are Japanese themed.

ARIAN RACE- The common name given to all of the forces of darkness. Not exactly a race, but an alliance amongst the demon hunter races with the Diabolis as their leaders.

ARIA- The most powerful Diabolis and the last surviving Antediluvians. She rules over the Arian Race, hence the name. Despite her voluptuous 25 year old appearance, she is actually the oldest living creature on the planet.

MARRIAGE SYSTEM- During the first 5 years of the Great Reaping Storm appearance, the death rate skyrocketed and caused the world's population has dropped to 1%. Even after 800 years, the population is still barely above 6% of what it once was. To counter this, the governments adopted Polygyny AKA One man and many women.

PHYSICAL PRIME- After reaching a certain age, the character no longer grows and becomes immune to aging. Varies on race

THE CHOSEN ONE- The one who is chosen by the gods to lead the battle against evil and bring everlasting peace to the land. The hero of the game complete with top of the line weapons, abilities, mysterious lineage and a massive harem. The Chosen One also unlocks the 4th Tier even if he is still on the 1st tier. He automatically is eligible to be an Avatar.

4TH TIER- a tier where only attainable by the strongest of characters. Upon reaching this tier, their default stats are doubled and they are awarded one special skill of their choosing. More importantly, they are allowed access to the ARMORS OF ACCENSION/DECADANCE.

ARMOR OF ACCENSION/DECADANCE- Simply put, they are armor with large amounts of bonuses. ACCENSION is only available to the forces of light. DECADANCE is for the dark forces.

AVATAR- allows a player to temporarily become a weaker version of his/her patron god. Those who are capable of being an avatar is chosen by the system alone (expect for the Chosen One). Requires Payment per use.

PAYMENT- Like all games, there are some things that can only be accessed by those who pay cash. Only Sponsors have the right to use Payment.

SPONSORS- These are the stinky rich people that joined this high stakes gambling.

-:-

**STATS **

All values are 100 by default. Changes are determined by god skills, race, weapons, armors

LIFE: Self Explanatory

MANA: Self Explanatory. Only mages and Diabolis have mana

DURABILITY: Self Explanatory, though in this game, it is much more important. All parts of the body have durability. If that durability drops to 0, the body part becomes limp and useless. To recover the body part's function, durability must be regenerated to 50%.

REGENARATION: Self Explanatory. Applies both to LIFE, MANA and DURABILITY. The lower the LIFE, the slower the regen speed.

DEFENSE: Self Explanatory. Only provided by Armors.

DAMAGE: Self Explanatory.

Damage= (Weapon Damage x (Which Body Part is hit + Buffs) – Defense) x Backstab Bonus

MOVESPEED: Self Explanatory

Movespeed= (Natural Movespeed x Race Bonus) – Armor Weight

-:-

**GAMEPLAY**

This game is similar to any VMMORPGS with one exception. This game has virtually NO SYSTEM ASSISTS. All active skills and regular attacks have a large chance of missing, thus forcing the players to rely on his/her personal abilities to win.

It may seem harsh but this is a HIGH STAKES GAME. Nothing is easy.

-:-

**GODS AND BONUS SKILL**

**-:-**

Divine Gods

Zadkiel- God of War

**Melee, Ranger, Mage**: CELESTIAL WRATH (Active)- +100% effectiveness to one strike/spell. 5 minutes cooldown

Uriel- God of Light

**Melee, Ranger, Mage**: CELESTIAL PROTECTION (Active)- +10% defense for 25 seconds. 5 minutes cooldown

Jophiel- God of Beauty

**Melee, Ranger, Mage**: CELESTIAL HEALING (Active)- Regenerates 10% of life in 10 seconds. 5 minutes cooldown

-:-

Dark Gods

**Amon- God of Wrath**

**Melee**

Attacker- BLOOD DRINKER (Passive)- 10% Life Steal

Defender- SPIKE CARAPACE (Passive)- +10% damage return. Stacks with other damage return skills

**Ranger**

Melee- BERSERK (Active)- +10% damage for 10 seconds. 5 minute cooldown

Range- STEADY SHOT (Passive)- +10% damage

**Mage**

Damager- RABID (Passive)- +10% pet damage. -10% life

Support- BATTLE HYMN (Passive)- +10% damage to all affected by SONG OF ACESCO

**Mammon- God of Plague**

**Melee**

Attacker- PLAGUE BLADE (Passive)- degenerates enemy life equal to 10% of weapon damage over 100 seconds. Does not stack with other PLAGUE BLADES.

Defender- DISEASED ONE (Passive)- +100% Life. 1% of damage received heals all allies within 10 feet. Regenerates 1% of life every second

**Ranger**

Melee- UNCONTROLLED GROWTH (Active)- Regenerates 70% of life in 10 seconds. 10 minutes cooldown

Range- PLAGUE MIST (Active)- covers an area with poison. All within the mist loses 1% life every 5 seconds. Lasts 1 minutes. 5 minute cooldown

**Mage**

Damager- UNCLEAN ONE (Passive)- +50% pet life. Adds poison based skill

Support- NOISE POLLUTION (Passive)- -5% Damage to all enemies within the range of SONG OF ACESCO. Does not stack with other NOISE POLLUTION

**Asmodeus- God of Obsession**

**Ranger**

Melee- VENGANCE (Active)- -50% Damage received for one hit then automatically counters. Counter Strike damage = Damage Received + Normal Damage. 5 minutes cooldown

Range- TRICK SHOT (Active)- allows the bullet to ricochet once. 5 minutes cooldown

-:-

**BASE CLASSES**

-:-

Melee

2nd Tier

Attacker Or Defender

3rd Tier

Heavy Attacker or Balance or Heavy Defender

-:-

Ranger

2nd Tier

Short Range or Long Range

3rd Tier

Pure Melee or Balance or Sniper

-:-

Mage

2nd Tier

Damager or Support

3rd Tier

Pure Damager or Balance or Pure Support

-:-

**CELESTIALS BASE CLASS**

PRO's- Powerful burst damagers

High DPS

CON's- Fragile

Mediocre God Skills

-:-

**1****st**** class tier**

**Melee, Ranger, Mage**- +15% Damage (passive)

**Mage:** Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void type spells

-:-

**2****nd**** class tier**

**Melee:**

**BUSHI** (Attacker)- Weapon: Katana

Armor Type: Medium

IAI BLADE (Active): Increase Damage by 300% for 1 hit. 1 min cooldown.

**OR**

**ASHIGARU** (Defender)- Weapon: Spear

Armor Type: Heavy

IRON BODY (Passive): +25% defense

**Ranger:**

**SOHEI** (Short Range)- Weapon- None

Armor Type: None

HAYATE (Active): Launches 10 blows in 2 seconds. 30 second cooldown.

CHI FIST (Passive): -50% damage but allows unarmed strikes to bypass armor

**OR**

**KYUDOKA** (Long Range)-Weapon- Bow

Armor Type: Light

EXTENDED RANGE (Passive): Range= 200 meters.

SCATTER SHOT (Active): Shoots 10 arrows in one shot, each dealing 50% of user's damage. 30 sec cooldown

**Mage:**

**ONMYOUJI** (Damager)- Weapon- Shikigami

Armor Type: None

SPIRIT BLAST (Active)- All spells have 10 second casting times. Damage +500%.

**OR**

**SHISAI** (Support)- Weapon- Shikigami

Armor Type: None

HEAL (Active)- Heals Life of target.

PROTECT (Active)- +25% defense to target

-:-

**3****rd**** class tier**

**Melee:**

**KIHEI** (Heavy Attacker)- Weapon: Katana

Armor Type: Medium

WAR STALLION (Passive)- summons his/her trusty steed and rides it into battle. +20% Damage and +5% Defense while mounted.

STAMPEDE (Active)- while mounted, KIHEIs will charge into enemy lines. Requires atleast 10 meters of running distance before the skill kicks in. If the defensive stat isn't high enough, any infantry caught in the charge is killed outright.

**OR**

**SAMURAI** (Balanced)- Weapon- Dual Katana, Spear, Bow

Armor Type: Medium

VERSATILITY (Passive)- Capable of using a spear, a bow and dual katanas. SAMURAIs can use the tier 2 skills of those weapons.

IAI SLASH(Active)-Strikes an enemy 10 meters away using a chi slash.

**OR**

**KOKEN' NIN** (Heavy Defender)- Weapon: Spear and Shield

Armor Type: Heavy

FORTIFY (Passive)- +25% Defense when using a shield

TOUGHNESS (Passive)- +25% Life

INSPIRE (Passive)- all allies within 10 meters receives a +15% def buff. Does not stack. KOKEN' NIN is not included in the effect

**Ranger:**

**YAMABUSHI** (Pure Melee) Weapon- None

Armor Type: None

CELESTIAL ROAR (Active)- increase damage by 3000% for one strike. 5 minutes cooldown.

**OR**

**SHINOBI** (Balance) Weapon: Weapon of previous teir + Kunai + Shuriken

Armor Type: Ligt

FADE (Active): Becomes invisible for 20 seconds. Attacking breaks stealth. 2 minute cooldown.

AMBUSH (Passive): All attacks break stealth deals 300% more damage.

**OR**

**SEISHA HICCHU** (Sniper) Weapon: Long Bow

Armor Type: Light

TRUE SHOT STANCE (Active): The user becomes immobile but increases range to 1 KM. +20% damage while this mode is active.

**Mage:**

**KENSHO** (Pure Damager) Weapon: 2 Shikagami

Armor Type: None

DUAL CAST (Passive): can cast 2 spells at the same time

SPELL SURGE (Active): Casts one big spell instead of using multi cast. 20 second casting time, +1500% Damage.

**OR**

**SATORI** (Balance) Weapon: Staff

Armor Type: None

SOLID FOUNDATION (Passive)- Capable of using all 2nd tier mage skills.

FAR SEER (Active)- Capable of long range communication. Requires the construction of the Far Seer Mirror.

**OR**

**SEWA** (Pure Support) Weapon: Shide Wand

Armor Type: None

CLEANSE(Active): Removes disease from an ally

MASS HEAL (Active): Heals everyone within a 10 meter radius. 10 second casting time.

SANCTUARY (Active): Life Regeneration +100% on a 20x20 meter area. Channeling spell.

-:-

**INFERNAL BASE CLASS**

PROs- Very Tough

Powerful God Skills

CONs- Very few active skills

Mediocre damage Burst and DPS.

-:-

**1****st**** tier class**

**Melee, Range, Mage** - +30% Life (Passive)

SACRIFICE (Active)- Sacrifices life to improve the effect of a single action. Level of improvement depends on how much life is sacrificed.

**Mage**- Standard spell casting is replaced by Monster Enslavement

-:-

**2nd tier class**

**Melee:**

**CONSCRIPT** (Attacker)- Weapon: Two Hand Weapon

Armor Type: Medium

WAR TRAINING (Passive): +10% Attack, +10% Life

**OR**

**SENTRY** (Defender)- Weapon: One hand weapon and Shield

Armor Type: Heavy

CURSE OF VENGANCE (Passive): +20% Life and returns 10% of damage received back to the attacker.

**Ranger:**

**BLACK HAND** (Melee) - Weapon: Black Hand + Light One hand weapon

Armor Type: Medium

BLACK HAND (Passive)- Amputates dominant arm and replaces it with a invincible, mechanical demonic arm. The strength in the BLACK HAND is increased, everything else remains the same. The BLACK HAND cannot wield a weapon

OFF HAND (Passive)- allows the non dominant arm to wield a lightweight one hand weapon (Daggers, rapiers, etc).

**OR**

**SHARPSHOOTER** (Range)- Weapon: Flintlock Musket

Armor Type: Light

EXTENDED RANGE (Passive)- Range= 400 meters

SHOT (Passive)- +100% damage when shooting from a flintlock rifle. 20 seconds reload time.

**Mage:**

**WARLOCK** (Damager)- Weapon: Staff

Armor Type: None

ENSLAVEMENT (Active): Dominates animals or demons to use them in combat. Limited to small to medium size animals/demons (dogs, wolves, panthers etc.). 1 pet limit.

**OR**

**BARD** (Support)- Weapon: Musical Instrument

Armor Type: None

SONG OF ACESCO (Active): Heals 1% of total life per second to all allies within 50 meters. Channeling. Does not stack with other BARDS. Only one song active per BARD.

-:-

**3rd tier class**

**Melee:**

**TITAN** (Heavy Attacker)- Weapon: Two Handed Weapon and One handed weapon

Armor Type: Medium

TITANS GRIP (Passive): capable of dual wielding a two handed weapon and a one handed weapon

DUAL STRIKE (Active): Increases Attack by 500% for 2 hits. 1 min cooldown

**OR**

**KNIGHT** (Balance)- Weapons: Depends on 2nd tier class

Armor Type: Heavy

AURA OF DREAD (Passive): -10% Damage & Defense to all enemies within 100 meters

AURA OF AWE (Passive): +10% Damage & Defense to all allies within 100 meters

**OR**

**SENTINEL** (Heavy Defender)- Weapon: One hand Weapon and Shield

Armor Type: Massive

GUARDIAN (Passive): +50% life, +10% defense when using a shield

**Ranger:**

**DEMON ARM** (Pure Melee)- Weapon: Demon Arm + One Hand weapon

Armor Type: Medium

DEMON ARM (Passive)- BLACK HAND becomes a DEMON ARM, which receives the UNHOLY MIGHT buff. Physical strength of the arm is equal to an ETHEREAL

**OR**

**GUNNER** (Balance)- Weapon: 2nd tier class weapon + 4 flintlock pistols

Armor Type: Light

PISTOL SHOT (Passive)- can use flintlock pistol. Rage- 50 meters. +100% damage per shot. 15 second reload time per pistol

GUNSLINGER (Passive)- Able to dual wield 1 flintlock pistol + 2nd tier class weapon

**OR**

**RIFLEMAN** (Sniper) Weapon: Flintlock Rifle

Armor Type: None

PERCISION SHOT (Active): Extends range to 3 KM. +300% damage per shot. The user must be stationary while aiming. Cannot shoot for 30 seconds after use.

**Mage:**

**DEMONOLOGIST** (Pure Damager)- Weapon: None

Armor Type: None

BATTLE MUTATION (Passive)- Horribly mutates pet to make it more efficient in physical combat. Size now ranges from very large (like a rhino) to massive (as large as a 3 story building). 1 pet limit

REPAIR (Active): heals pet

**OR**

**SAGE** (Balance)- Weapon: None

Armor Type: None

CASTING MUTATION (Passive)- The pet is mutated into something that is capable of spellcasting (pixies, unicorns, angels, etc). The spell casting focus is decided by the 2nd tier class. The SAGE is incapable of casting any spells.

**OR**

**VIRTUOSO** (Pure Support) Weapon: Musical Instrument

Armor Type: None

SONG OF MOIRAE (Active): heals 2% Life per second, +10% Damage and Defense to all allies within 100 meters. Does not stack with other songs. One song per bard only.

-:-

**Important Races**

DIVINE FACTION

-:-

**ETHEREAL**

- Best race in the game, possessing the best training, armor and weapons.

- Male only race

- Impossible to defeat alone

- Not available to players

- Must be summoned through PAYMENT

Race skill:

DIVINE MIGHT (Passive): Strength is greatly amplified.

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): Age- 20

-:-

**ELF**

- Dominant race in the Divine Faction

- Beautiful, elegant and filthy rich.

- Skilled at mana manipulation

- Class: Melee, Ranger, Mage

Race Skill-

MANA INFUSION (Passive): All damage or defense is increased by 10% depending the class and speciality

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): 18-25

-:-

**CANIS LUPIS**

- Wolf girls/men

- 2nd toughest in the Divine Faction

- Loyal, short tempered and fun loving

- Class: Melee, Ranger

Race Skill:

FERAL ENDURANCE (Passive): +25% Life

LYCANTHROPY (Active): Turns into werewolf form. +10% Life, Damage and Defense.

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): 20-30

-:-

**GNOME**

- Excellent scholars and alchemists

- Curious to a fault

- Horribly fragile

Class: Mage

Race Skill:

ARCANE WRATH (Active): Decimates a 5 meter radius area with an Arcane Missle. 1000% damage to everything within the target area

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): Age-30-35

-:-

**HUMAN**

- The largest population in the planet with an estimated number of nearing 5 double trillions within the DIVINE FACTION alone (1 trillion = 1,000,000,000,000. 1 double trillion= 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)

- Jack of all trades, master of none

- The only race that is not born with PHYSICAL PRIME.

- Very fast learners (at least compared to the others)

Class: Melee, Ranger, Mage

Race Skill:

VERSITILITY (Passive): +5% to life, damage and defense

RISE/FALL (Passive): by transplanting non-human blood or flesh into them, humans gains PHYSICAL PRIME and a bit of power while retaining their own skills.

- ACCENSION (Divine Faction only) - single drop of ETHEREAL blood is ingested by the human. Results may vary

- DECADANCE (Dark Faction only)- replaces a human's organ with a demonic counterpart (normally heart, arm, brain or spinal column). 85% fatality rate.

-:-

DARK FACTION

-:-

**DIABOLIS**

- The race that rules over the Dark Faction

- Weakest of the weak in combat

- Ultimate support and the natural counter of ETHEREALS

- The only race that can fly

Class: Special Class

Race Skill:

**1st tier class**

**ACOLYTE**- +5000% to MANA

NOTE: Must gain SUPPORTER in order to move to 2nd tier.

**2nd tier class**

**WITCH** (Special Class)- Weapons: None

Armor Type: None

SUPPORTER (Passive)- A guardian/servant that belongs to the WITCH.

_Requirements to get a Supporter_

1. It can be anything as long as it is capable of serving/ protecting their master (cursed blades, parasites, monsters, humanoids, etc)

2. The WITCH must have enough mana to control the SUPPORTER

3. The SUPPORTER must be willing to obey the WITCH

4. The WITCH and the SUPPORTER must have a BOND

5. The SUPPORTER must be able to survive the MANA INJECTION of the WITCH

MANA INJECTION (Active)- Floods the SUPPORTER with mana. +20% Damage, Defense, Life. If the SUPPORTER does not have a proper bond with the WITCH, it will wither and die. Channeling

NOTE: Must gain UNION to move to 3rd tier

**3rd tier class**

**QUEEN** (Special Class) Weapons- None

Armor Type: None

UNION (Passive): The QUEEN and the SUPPORTER now combines and shares their life. UNION can only be achieved through a state called the AMALGAM (conditions varies among QUEENs)

DEAMON KING (Active): an upgrade for MANA INJECTION. Temporarily transforms the SUPPORTER to a DEAMON KING by flooding it with exceedingly lethal doses of mana.

-:-

**CYCLOPES  
**

- Ultimate Shocktroopers

- Male only race

- Stupid... very stupid

- Childishly innocent but goes into an uncontrollable rage when pissed off.

- Incredibly dangerous when angry... to both friend and foe

- Not available to players

- Must be summoned through PAYMENT

Race skill:

DEMONIC ENDURANCE(Passive): Strength is greatly amplified. +300% to Life

STUPIDITY (Passive): It's too stupid to realize that it's already dead. When it's life drops to zero, it can fight for 10 more minutes before dying

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): Age- ?

-:-

**DARK ELF**

- One of the dominant race in the DARK FACTION

- Aside from their tanned brown skin, they look no different from ELFs

- Tribal and aggressive though very disciplined.

Class: Melee, Ranger, Mage

Race Skill:

SYNERGY (Passive): When surrounded by 10 or more allies, all of them receives a +25% defense boost

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): Age- 20-25

-:-

**DWARF**

- One of the dominant race in the DARK FACTION

- The greatest engineers in the world

- Short, sturdy, loud and almost always smells like booze.

Class: Melee, Ranger

Race Skill:

MAGIC RESISTANCE (Passive): Magic damage received -50%

POWER ARMOR (Passive): An armor that was tailor made for dwarfs. +20% defense.

PHYSICAL PRIME (Passive): Age- 30-35

-:-

**REVENANT**

- An undead that was able to maintain its sanity after being brought back to life

- Memories are blurry but recoverable in due time. Instincts are retained

- Loses RACE, CLASS and strength upon becoming an undead.

Class: Melee, Ranger, Mage

Race Skill:

FEIND (Passive)- +20% Life. Consumes mana heals wounds and for survival purposes.

RESURRECTION (Passive): by consuming excessively massive amounts of mana , REVENANTs can become living creatures once again. Cannot return to original race.


	15. Beasts of Ayala - Prologue

PROLOGUE

Game Over

-:-

Myth- a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

That is the dictionary meaning of it.

To the common people, it is normally associated with a handsome hero fighting the forces of evil. Normally, the hero is some sort of chosen one with a mysterious lineage and would travel the world, killing bad guys and saving damsels in distress. The hero also gets the princess (or princesses) and lives happily ever after.

Unfortunately, the world does not work that way. That's why its called a MYTH.

After all, if myths were real, he wouldn't be the one face down on the floor.

If myths were real, he wouldn't lose.

Yet here he was, beaten to a bloody pulp and forced to watch his kingdom burn to the ground.

"_Why? Why is this happening to me?"_ he asked himself. _"Did I not faithfully follow the scriptures? Did I not preach kindness and equality to all? Am I not the wielder of the holy sword Izanagi? AM I NOT THE CHOSEN ONE?!"_

He didn't really need to ask these questions, for he only needed to turn his head 45 degrees to find the cause of it all. Barely 3 meters away from him sat a man who was, in many ways, an anti-thesis to him. 3 measily meters away from the Chosen One sat his arch enemy, the Demon Lord.

He has long light blue hair, while the Demon Lord has short, dark red hair

He has an elegant body that nearly lacks any sign of masculinity. On the other hand, the Demon Lord is a solid mountain of muscle.

He wore pure silver armor while the Demon Lord sports a dirty bronze armor with a black cloak over it.

He is a SAMURAI that fights proudly and honorably in the front lines. The Demon Lord fights in the shadows as part of the most cowardly class on Forsena, The BLACK HAND

However, dispite their differences, they actually share a few distinct characterstic: Their Origin.

For one, both of them were once ELFs. Emphasis on the word ONCE.

The Chosen One discovered that he has an ELF for a mother, and an ETHEREAL for a father. There have been prophecies of such a hybrid, saying that he will lead the races against the darkness and bring ever lasting peace to all. This is why he is called the CHOSEN ONE.

On the other hand, The Demon Lord was born as an ELF….. but various circumstances led to his violent death. For whatever reason for his death, the lingering resentment he felt was enough to turn him into one of the vilest race in Forsena, a REVENANT.

Aside from that, both of them were born in EDO….. the very same city that the Demon Lord is burning to the ground. Both of them were born in very influential families, and both of them understood that EDO is corrupt. Both of them agree that the city needs to change. However, their methods are polar opposites of each other.

The Chosen One believes in the good of the citizens, and that it is possible to reform the city from within.

The Demon Lord believes that it is beyond saving, and must be eradicated at its core.

As the Chosen One glares at his advisary, he suddenly notices that the Demon Lord was sporting a dissatisfied face…. This pisses him off even more.

"What's with that face? Isn't this what you always wanted, you bastard?!" He said in an aggressive voice.

"Well…. yeah. This has been my goal for more than 3 decades now…." The Demon Lord replies nonchalantly. " But the scenery is a bit….. lacking?"

"What to you mean?" He replied while doing his best to keep is anger in check.

"See that Mana Convertion Plant there?" The Demon Lord points to an obelisk-like tower in the distance. "I was actually expecting some of your people would turn desperate and blow it up. And to think I even went the extra mile and gathered so many zombies…. *sigh*…. I guess your people arent as suicidal as I originaly hope. "

"YOU BASTARD!" The Chosen One charges…. and fails miserably, seeing how his entire body is too damaged to move.

"Relax will ya. I'm not going anywhere….. not like I have a choice …" The Demon Lord sighs as he futily attempts to move his left arm.

Their climactic final battle was not kind to its participants. Just like him, the Demon Lord was also beaten within an inch of his life. However, unlike him, the Demon Lord is in much better shape than he is, thanks to that mechanical right arm of his.

And its not just limited between the two of them. Even their armies shared the same fate. Originally, the forces of light outnumbered the enemy 5 to 1, not to mention that they also had the home court advantage.

However, that means very little when the enemy strikes when their guard is down.

But who could blame them? They were within the walls of the city that was said to be impenetrable, not to mention the one year of peace prior to the surprise attack. And as if to add insult to injury, 2 hours from now marks the 1st year of his accension to the throne.

And he can do nothing to prevent it from happening. All those who believes in him, all those who love him, and all who are fighting desperately with the hope that he will save the day…. All of them will die.

"Why…. Even if everyone is doing their best…. Why are we still losing?" The Chosen One asks in vexation.

"HAHAHAHA! I love that DO YOUR BEST AND EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT attitude." The Demon Lord laughs heartily, pissing off the Chosen One in the process. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not insulting that mind set or anything, its just funny to think that you actually expect to win with only a few hours of DOING YOUR BEST…. while we have been DOING OUR BEST for an entire year? You guys are truly an optimistic bunch."

This news shocks the Chosen One "W-what do you mean?"

"What? Did you really think that one year of peace out of fear of you becoming the emperor?" The Demon Lord replied sacasticaly. "Hehehe… man, as much as I would love to kick you when you're down, I'll refrain from doing that. Instead, let me explain to you what happened during that 1 year. I'm such a nice guy."

The Chosen One wasn't surprised at the Demon Lord's carefree response. He knows his adversary well enough to spot the façade from a mile away. Despite the laid back, and sometimes retarded, façade, the Demon Lord is the most sinister being the Chosen One knows.

Anyways, the Chosen One listens to the Demon Lord carefully, hoping to take in the mistakes he has made and use it as a lesson for the future.

According to the Demon Lord, the city of EDO is truly a magnificent stronghold that even the ARIANS are incapable of conquering it through brute force. Instead, the Demon Lord proposed to infiltrate the city using small groups and prepare for its eventual downfall.

Traps

Terain Study

Sabotage

Black Mail

Brain Washing

Propaganda

All of these were extensively used during that one year period. This is the main reason why the Demon Lord's forces were able to outmaneuver the Forces of Light in their own city. For one week, the Demon Lord's forces kept the Forces of Light flatfooted using hit and run tactics, until eventually,the Forces of Light's numbers were reduced to less than the Demon Lords forces.

Ironically, the high wall that protected EDO also served as a cage that isolated them from the commoners living just outside. All the Dark Forces needed to do was station snipers along the walls, and any hopes of reinforcements are gone.

The more information the Demon Lord revealed, the more convinced the Chosen One was of their inevitable demise.

"_No wonder we lost so quickly."_ He thought. _"We were in the palm of their hands way before the battle."_

Anyways, he must internalize his mistakes and prepare for the next opportunity. Japanese men are known for their stubborn will after all.

"You wont get away with this…." The Chosen One says with full conviction

The Demon Lord looks at him with great interest. "Ho… and why do you say that?"

"Because evil never truimps over good! I don't care what humiliation you put me through. I don't care what torture you have in store for me…. As long as I am alive, the forces of light will rise again!"

"Ho… so that's what you think huh." The Demon Lords smile widens into an evil grin, much to the Chosen One's dismay. "Well then, let me ask you something. What makes you think you'll live past today?"

His spirit drops instantly. "W-what do you mean?"

"Fu fu fu…. Did you seriously think Im one of those garden variety villains? Did you seriously think that I would capture you and force you to watch your realm burn? Do you seriously think I would waste my time humiliating you in front of your people?" The Demon Lord replies sarcastically. "Unfortunately for you, I am neither stupid nor a sadist. No matter how many advantages it will bring me to keep you alive, you are too great of a threat and must be eliminated. On another note, if I'm not after any information, torture is a waste of time to me. So…. As for your fate…. YOU WILL DIE"

The Demon Lord puts his black, mechanical right hand over the Chosen One's head….. and began squeezing it with all of his might.

"NO! You cant do this! I am the Chosen One! I cannot lose!" The Chosen One screams in desperation, but the Demon Lord's grip tightens without pause." Do you know what will happen if I lose?! DO YOU THINK YOU'LL BE SAFE IN THE REAL WORLD IF I LOSE?!"

The Demon Lord's smile widens into a terrifying grin of pure, unpresidented evil. "It doesn't matter where the battlefield is. Wether it's this world or the next. No matter what game we play, YOU ARE NOT WORTHY AS MY OPPONENT."

With those words said, the end of the LIGHT begins.

-:-


	16. Beasts of Ayala- Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Heroes and Villians

-:-

MONDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL

PRESIDENTIAL SUITE

Normally, Raphael is only a _bit_ looney hidden within the confines of manly smartness…. However, right now his manly genius has been thrown out the window, causing him to go full looney

"_WTF IS THIS?!"_ Raph roars in his head as he stares the glass knob of the bathroom door. _"How many hundres of dollars went into this knob?! Not to mention, nearly all bathrooms has this?! Damn rich bastards! Do they know how many years I have to save to afford one of these?!"_

Ofcourse, it's not only the doorknob that underwent Raphs scrutiny. The rug, curtain, sink, utensils, pillows, table napkins, etc. In short, every last thing in the room made Raph's penny pincher ego go ballistic.

However, the moment that he remembers that he wasnt going to pay a single yen for anything today, all of his belly aching was instantly thrown out the window. He orders the largest (and most expensive) steak in the room service menu. When it arrived, he takes a chair and sits near a window with the overlooking view of the city.

He raises a glass filled with water and says….

"Eating Steak….. LIKE A BOSS!"

Then eats a piece of his overpriced lump of meat.

"_Yup…. As expected of expensive stuff… they taste the same as the less expensive ones….. what a rip off"_

He continues to ponder on the meaning of over priced goods for a few more minutes until the man he was waiting for enters the room.

"You're late La Croix! Where the hell-" Raph stops after spotting La Croix with a handful of unfamiliar people. But more importantly, one of them was barely concealing an FN P90 sub machine gun underneath his coat.

He instantly reaches for the steak knife and holds it at a reverse grip. It's a pathetic excuse for a weapon, but beggars can't be choosers. At that point, the greedy otaku was no more, and standing in his place was a killer who was primed and ready to pounce.

One of the new arrivals, a young woman with tanned skin and dirty blonde hair, seemed to catch on fast. She drew a BARRETA M9 pistol from her jacket pocket and took aim.

"DROP THE KNIFE!" She roared.

Raph held the knife tighter and focused on the young lady. Truth be told, she actually tickles one of his fetishes, namely the TANNED SKIN fetish. Even if he disregards that, it was a certain fact that she is an increadibly beautiful woman.

However, she can only blame her luck for making Raph her dance partner. Bishoujo or not, he will stab, pummel, rend, tear and rip her apart.

"Stand Down Triela." Said a familiar looking person that followed the gunslinger girl, much to Raph's surprise.

"Ho…. I had a feeling you werent some unimportant extra. I cant believe Im right though…" Raph nonchantly says. Despite that, he changed his grip to throwing dagger mode with Eduardo Ayala as his new target.

This fearlessness may be one of the many bad side effects of SAO to its survivors. In an intellectual level, Raph can clearly see that he is out numbered and out gunned. Yet despite that, his desire for a battle clouds his better judgement.

Fortunately for Raph, La Croix intervenes. "Raph, calm down. What's the point of scaring off your employer-to-be."

Raph remains silent for a second then sighs. "Says the guy who hired a bunch of amatures. I saw the P90 the second you guys entered the door for gods sake! Where did you get this guys? The convenience store?"

The people with guns obviously didn't like that comment, however, Eduardo Ayala simple raises his hand to dismiss any of their complaints.

"I'm sorry about that. Most of them are fresh out of the academy" Eduardo replies calmly. He then turns to his bodyguards. "Put down your guns or I'll have you court marshaled, UNDERSTOOD?"

Though Eduardo said it in a relaxed voice, it was obvious to Raph that the fat man's authority is on a whole different level. His bodyguards reluctantly sheaths their guns.

"_Court marshaled huh… looks like these guys are military huh…."_ Raph thought to himself. _"But Ayala here is too fat to be a soldier….. hmmm… the plot thickens..."_

Raphael relaxes and takes a seat, though he doesn't let go of the knife.

Eduardo Ayala takes the seat opposite to him. "Take it easy will you. We not bad guys and we you no harm"

"Sorry for not believing, but there is something about having guns that keeps me on edge" Raphael replied in a displeased manner. "The pretty lady over there was very keen on putting a piece of lead between my eyes"

Behind Eduardo, the tanned skin Triela makes a grumpy face, but keeps her silence. Propably out of the fear of the court marshal that Eduardo promised.

"Well then, let us begin." Eduardo opens up his briefcase and takes out fairly thick folder. "… Oh… where are my manners. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Eduardo Ayala of the CIA, Cyber Sabotage Division. "

Eduardo reaches out his hand, but Raphael simply stares at it.

"Raph… atleast show some respect" La Croix says in annoyance. "Its rude to not accet a handshake"

"You are absolutely right, La Croix "Raph replies sarcastically" However, its hard to be not rude when someone shoves a gun into my face. It shouldn't be much of a surprise if I don't trust of you."

"Yeah… Well…. I guess we deserve that." Eduardo sighs and retracts his hand. "How can we earn your trust?"

"We'll talk about that later." Raph replies. "For now, what do you want?"

Eduardo nods and spreads out the contents of the file for Raphael to see. Ofcourse, to Raph, the files in front of him are complete and utter gibberish.

As if knowing this, Eduardo begins his briefing. "Well then, first off. I think you already deduced this earlier, but the job we require you to do is fairly illegal"

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Please get to the point." Raph replies calmly

For the next few minutes, Raph could already predict that for the rest his remaining time here on earth, it's going to be one hell of a party.

-:-

Their meeting lasted 3 hours….. and Raph cant help but feel the same childish glee that he experienced during his PK hunting in SAO.

And how can he NOT feel excitement?

The info that Eduardo revealed to him was so top secret, not even the president knows about it. It was way too controvertial that if it was to reach the public, the United States can kiss its popularity good bye. If anything, it was (and still is) the stuff that makes up every young boys dream…. To be some crazy ass Super Spy.

Ofcourse, unlike those kiddy spy shows, reality is much MUCH harsher.

'How harsh?' you ask?

Then let us begin with the topic that Raph never expected to hear, especially from a Cyber Sabatoge Division…. Human Cloning.

Human Cloning, or atleast its concept, has been around since ancient times, albiet purely religious fiction. Only during the technological spike of the 19th century that cloning technology took leaps and bounds. By the 1st decade of the 20th century, there were a handful of almost successful attempts at genetic cloning, with Italy and Germany leading the research.

'Why ALMOST successful?' you ask?

2 important factors throws a monkey rench into the project.

1st and foremost, there is no way to safetly accelerate the clone's physical age to match its original. All attempts of forcing growth has ended up killing the clone. The best result was a 20 year old clone of an unnamed individual which survived for 2.18 minutes before a heart seizure took its life. The only way for a clone to survive is for it to age naturally.

2nd, and probably the most important, is the lack of any ways to transfer an EGO from the original to the clone. As stated in the 1st problem, the lack of a brain mature enough and compatible enough prevents the project from moving forward.

And even if there was a clone that fits the requirements, the current understanding of what makes an EGO tick is far from ideal. Sure enough, the EGO has something to do with the electrical impulses in the brain…. however, is copying the electrical impulses of another brain enough to copy the EGO into the clone?

Ofcourse not.

The EGO... no… the SOUL is something that currently baffles the scientific world.

This is the main reason why AREA 51 (USA's most advance think tank) started the PROJECT PURGATORY, which aims to study souls (in the form of a Bottom-Up AI) in order to make perfect human cloning possible. Eventually, this project will yield eternal life via body transfer (for a chosen few ofcourse).

Just to put it into perspective on how serious AREA 51 is….. PROJECT PURGATORY was coined some time in 1980's, at the height of the cold war, and a perfected PURGATORY (the name of the virtual reality that they used) has exised since 2017….. 5 whole years before the SWORD ART ONLINE incident.

Eduardo also revealed that Japan has barely started the same thing under the name PROJECT ALICIZATION. This goes to show how advance the USA is from the rest of the world….. and how sad it is for the tax payers to not even know where their money is going.

Anyways, that ends the technical jargon of it. Now comes the reason why the CIA is in Japan in the first place.

1 year ago, a certain person (whom will not be named for security reasons) that worked on the PURGATORY stole the main memory and disappeared. 4 months later, the CIA discovered that he sold to one of the new television studios, the MANEKI NEKO studios. To make matters worse, that person presented it to MANEKI NEKO as a highly advanced, state of the art world simulator and nothing more.

That alone is enough to make Uncle Sam a little worried. The severity of the situation is like giving a nuclear war head to the North Koreans. Who knows what damage can the ignorant MANEKI NEKO employees could inflict.

But it doesn't stop there. No…. it only keeps getting better and better. Based on Eduardo, the MANEKI NEKO studio is secretly funded by one of biggest yakuza in japan, the RONIN Zaibatsu. As expected of the yakuza, they turned the 1st unscripted television series into one of the most profilic gambling arena in recent years. Many of the rich and powerful were invited to participate in the game with a pot money that could buy a small country.

Ofcourse, Eduardo and the Cyber Sabotage Division is not interested on the money. What they want is the data that was stolen from AREA 51, which is currently in the hands of MANEKI NEKO. Unfortunately, even with the secret backing of the RONIN Zaibatsu, MANEKI NEKO has done nothing illegal what so over, thus preventing the CIA to do anything forceful.

The only _SORT OF LEGAL_ solution available is to make MANEKI NEKO lose its secret backer and force it to go bankrupt. That way, they can legally buy its shares and everyone would be happy.

The best way to remove the RONIN Zaibatsu is to make them lose lots of money. And the best way to do that is to beat them in the game that they created…. THE WAR OF FORSENA (TWOF). With the amount of money the RONIN invested in the game, a loss would _hurt_ them a fair bit.

That is were Raph comes in….

-:-

"So… there you have it. That's all our plans laid to bare for you." Eduardo leans back after explaining everything. "Please understand how much trust I'm placing on you when I revealed these highly classified information. I hope we get along well."

Once again Eduardo streaches out his hand to Raph.

Now, in all honesty, Raph would love to join Eduardo in his super spy quest. What can he say? Eduardo has ignited the inner child in Raph. Raph doubts that any man doesn't want to be like Bond… James Bond.

"_CALM THE HELL DOWN RAPH!"_ He practically screamed in his head. _"This bastard knows how to sweet talk people, THAT I have no doubt….. But this guy just dumped massive amounts of info on me way too fast…. I need to buy some time…."_

Raph closes his eyes and puts his mind into overdrive. 5 seconds of silence later, Raph puts on the appropriate persona and begins to talk.

"250 thousand dollars"

Everone stares at him at disbelief.

"Er… huh?" Said Eduardo in confusion. "W-what do you mean?"

"I want 250 thousand dollars for my services." Raph replies with arrogance he didn't have.

As he expected, Ms. Tanned Skinned Triela explodes. She takes out her gun and shoves it into Raph's forehead.

"You cocky brat! You think you can just order us around just coz we're nice?!" Triela roars. "Listen well brat! We can tear your life apart with a push of a button, do you understand? HUH?!"

Raph silently looks at her for a second, then sighs. "I changed my mind….. I want 500 thousand dollars."

"YOU BRA-!"

"TRIELA! STAND DOWN OR I'LL SHOOT YOU MYSELF!" Eduardo roared.

Triela hesistates for a bit then puts her gun back into her sleave.

After a few tense seconds, Eduardo calms himself down and looks at Raph seriously. "Raphael Norton, can you explain why you need money? Though you are greedy, I doubt you would stoop as low as exploiting us for money"

"Do you think I'm a retard Mr. Ayala?" Raph replies aggressively. "Did you really think I wont notice what you're trying to make me do? This plan of yours is corporate sabotage! And against a freaking yakuza, for Christ's sake! How the hell am I suppose to sleep at night when my family might be in danger?! Srew you if you think I'll bend over just coz you say so!"

Raph gets the reaction he wanted, as everyone in the room shifts uncomfortably. As expected of the CIA, they still have a bit of humanity left in their rotten core.

Eduardo clears his throat. "I will ensure the safety of your family. You have my word."

Raphael slams his fist into the table, breaking the plate in the process. "NOT GOOD ENOUGH YOU ASSHOLES! If it were only me that was at risk, then I probably would have consent. But this is my family we're talking about here. I wont trust it to some people who I don't even know anything about!"

"And what would it take to earn your trust?" Eduardo relies emotionlessly

"If I have the means to kill all of you, then _MAYBE_ I'll trust you." Raph takes out a pen and paper and writes something on it. He then leaves it on the table. "I want 750 thousand dollars by 3 PM tomorrow at that location, then maybe we can talk."

"Thanks for the steak La Croix. It tasted like rubber."Raph stands and walks out the room.

.

.

.

.

Raph skips the elevator and heads for the stairs. The second he was sure that he's alone, he crumbles to the floor.

"_HOLY CRAP! I thought I was gonna have a heart attack there!"_ Raph sits on the stairs and catches his breath. _"Guns are scary!"_

"_Maybe show boated a bit there…." _Raph thought as he stares at his slightly bleeding hand. _"Well, whatever. Since I already opened my big mouth back there, I might as well follow through."_

Raph takes out his phone and dials a number. A few seconds later, someone answers it.

"Hello? Aunt Catherine, how are you? …. Yes I'm fine….. Yes, dad is doing fine as well….. By the way, I need a favor."

-:-

The Next Day

Eduardo Ayala sighs as he contemplates their predicament. Right now, his little band of CIA operatives are riding a black SUV towards the location designated by Raphael Norton… and he cant help but feel uneasy.

"Hey boss…. I've been wondering, why do you want this guy so badly?" Asked Triela.

Eduardo sighs. "Did you even bother read his file? If I could recall, I gave everone a copy."

"You expect me to read that dictionary?" Triela replies. "Im just a hired gun boss. No need to know who I have to kill."

"_Sigh…. Kids these days."_ Eduardo cant help but wonder how she got passed the CIA tests.

"Remember the SAO incident?"

Triela and everyone in the car nods

"He is one of the survivors of that death game. And as a veteran of the VMMORPG scene, Raphael's skill is top notch."

"But he looks like a pain to deal with" A muscular man named Brutus replies. "Shouldn't we chose a more cooperative SAO survivor?"

"Though I agree with you on the pain-to-deal-with part, he is, unfortunately, the most suitable for the job." Eduardo sighs in slight annoyance. "Well, we shouldn't worry about that for now….. we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Simply dismissing their current situation as PRESSING MATTERS is an understatement. Now more than ever, Eduardo Ayala regrets his promotion. No amount of money is worth the danger they are about to face.

"…_.. *sigh*….. Join the CIA they said…. It will be fun they said….. what a load of bull"_ Eduardo thinks to himself as their car slowly comes to a stop in front of their destination. _"… Should have took up fashion designing when I had the chance"_

Their destination is a low class, yet surprisingly large motel named THE LITTLE KREMLIN. As the name states, the place is owned by Russians. Unfortunately for Eduardo's group, the Russians that owns the place are part of ORGANIZATSIYA, one of the CIA's most unsavory ties to the world of organized crime.

"Err…. Boss man…. I got the heebejeebeeze just by looking at the place." Said the obviously uncertain Brutus

Though Eduardo shared his sentiments, he puts up a strong façade and walks up to the large guard by the door.

The guard puts his hand in his jacket pocket, with the clear intention of drawing his gun the second Eduardo does something stupid.

Ofcouse, as a man of intellect, Eduardo's heart rate and blood pressure shoots up like a rocket. He, however, holds it in and casually approaches the guard

"Good afternoon. My name is Eduardo Ayala. Mr. Raphael Norton called us here" Eduardo says with all the calm he could muster.

The guard stares at him for a bit, then moves aside and opens the door for them. The CIA members soon realizes how potentially lethal their situation really is.

As they walk to the reception counter, atleast 30 men with badly hidden guns, looked at them with distrustful eyes. One of them didn't even bothered hiding his AK-47.

Eduardo ignores them and leads his group to the counter. The receptionist then leads them to a fairly large office at the very back of the motel.

Within that office were 2 individuals who were playing chess.

1st was Raphael Norton, and judging by the look in his face, he was losing horribly.

The other person, on the other hand, nearly gave Eduardo a heart attack. The very sight of her was nearly enough to make Eduardo pee his pants. And who can blame him? After all, her reputation amongst the CIA was far from comforting.

She has many nicknames. The Bloody Angel, The Head Hunter, The Rabid Princess of the East just to name a few. However, to those who know her well, she is Catherine Yvoska.

"_Damn…. I didn't expect to meet her so soon…."_ Eduardo thought in despair._ "The future looks really bleak already"_

After a few seconds of tense silence, Raphael Norton sinks his face into the table. "Damn it! 19th straight loss in a row?! Un-freaking-believable!"

"Hahaha. No need to be so surpised kiddo. While you can read an impressive 5 moves ahead, I can predict about 10-20. Its only natural that you'll lose to me." Catherine Yvoska replied in a motherly voice, much to the surprise of the CIAs.

Who would have thought that the BELA VESTICA (Catherine's most famous nicknames) could make such a motherly face.

Raphael stands up dramatically. "1 more! I'm sure I can win the next one! My pride….. no…. my manly spirit, which burns like a thousand suns, wont take this lying down!"

Nearly everyone in the room suppresses a chuckle at Raphael's anticts….. everyone except for Catherine who doesn't bother hiding her laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! You're just like your father. Both of you have no shame what so ever" Catherine laughs out loud. After a few seconds of uncontrolled laughter, she calms down. "I'll destroy you later. For now, your guests are here."

The tension skyrockets as everyones eyes focus on the CIAs.

"What are you waiting for?" said Catherine to Eduardo. "Sit down already. We're not gonna shoot you… yet."

"_Was that last part really necessary?!"_ thought the nervous Eduardo as he takes the seat. His body guards station themselves behind him.

Eduardo takes out a large folder. "I shall present my propo-"

"No need. Raphael filled me in" Catherine cuts him off with a businessman like tone.

"He might missed a few details though-" Eduardo begins…

"Did I not make myself clear, Mr. Eduardo Ayala? Father of 2 daughters, both in highschool. Wife works as a marketing consultant."Catherine cuts him off, while revealing some information of him. "I also know about your bodyguards closest relatives, friends and even their favorite strip club."

"H-how do-"

"How do I know these things?" Catherine replies arrogantly. "You seem to not understand why you people are here."

Ofcourse, Eduardo already knew why, but he let Catherine do her rant. Who knows what will happen to them if he interrupts. This will also serve as a good reminder to his bodyguards that THESE people are no joke.

"Let me explain in a way that your retarded bodyguards can understand." Catherine continues. " This meeting has 3 goals in mind. 1st is to make clear that we WILL kill you and your family the second you try to double cross Raphael. Remember, it is Raphael who will be risking his life to clean up YOUR mess. No complaints right?"

Ofcourse there are a lot of complaints, but Catherine Yvoska does have a point, thus Eduardo keeps silent. Besides, he has a feeling that there's a bullet here with his name on it if he complains.

Catherine continues.

"2nd, The ORGANIZATSIYA will safe guard Raphael's 750 thousand dollars….. you do have it, don't you?"Catherine asks aggressively

With a sigh, Eduardo signals Brutus to put his brief case.

This time, Catherine signals one of her subordinates to inspect the contents. A few seconds later, Catherine's subordinate gave a thumb up and takes the case.

"Glad we cleared that one." Catherine sighs. "I would have shot you in the leg if it was even a single cent short."

"_Seriously! Was that comment really necessary?!"_ Eduardo raged in his head. He, however, keeps cool and lets Catherine finish what she needs to say.

"3rd and lastly, when Raphael wins, and he WILL WIN, the CIA will get nothing but your prescious data or whatever it is you're after. Not a single cent will go your way. Are we clear?"

Eduardo was perfectly fine with it. He already predicted that something like this may happen…. On the other hand, Triella didn't seem to share his sentiments.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You expect me to just agree with-" Triela roared, but was instantly cut off as a bullet misses her right ear by an inch.

None of knew when it happened, but Catherine has drawn and accurately fired her gold IMI DESSERT EAGLE before anyone could react. This was a testament to her abilities. It is no wonder why she is well repected and fear by friend and foe alike.

To make matters worse, the gunshot served as a signal to every ORGANIZATSIYA member to aim their weapons at the CIAs.

A few tense seconds of silence later, Raph spoke.

"Err…. Auntie?... you promised not to hurt them…. You DO remember that, right?" Raphael meakly asks.

"The bullet didn't even touch her. So no problem" Catherine replies nonchalantly

"So you don't have any intention killing them…. Right?" Raphael asks, as if dreading the answer he is about to her.

Catherine looks away for some reason."S-she's not dead, isn't she? That's what's important."

Eduardo cant help but wonder if choosing Raphael might not be the wisest idea he has ever had.

Catherine clears hear throat. "Ahem. Though I understand that you CIA people are only doing your job, please understand that I am Raphael's godmother. And like any good godmother, I value his well being. If he gets harmed in anyway… well, better worry about the well being of all of your family, friends and relatives. Something UNFORTUNATE might happen to them."

Once again, the room descends into an uneasy silence.

A few seconds later, Catherine nods in satisfaction. "Good, looks like you understood our arrangement. You may now leave. Stay safe now."

With that, their one sided negotiation comes to an end. The guards usher them out the motel in a surprisingly peaceful manner.

They exited the building, got in the car and drove off into the sunset.

.

.

.

.

" _Quitting the CIA for Fashion Designing doesn't sound so bad afterall"_

-:-

3 weeks later

MANEKI NEKO STUDIOS RECEPTION HALL

Despite pouring a fair bit of effort and money into her looks, Angelica Norton has never been the one to flaunt her beauty. However, due to certain circumstances that she could easily avoid but didn't, she is forced to do exactly what she hates.

Within the quickly refurbished MANEKI NEKO Reception hall, a famous talkshow is currently underway. She sits among the main cast of the new game/television series, THE WAR OF FORSENA, which happens to be the talkshow's main topic for the day.

'Why is she here?' you ask?

Answer: Apparently, that 1 week gig she did with the AKB catapulted her into celebrity status without her knowing. Before she knew it, she already has a fan club (which she found out only recently) and a fair bit of proposals of various intent (modeling, acting, dancing, marriage, etc). Ofcourse, aside from the rare times that she needs money, most of these are either ignored or thrown into the trash.

This acting gig was supposed to meet the same end as the rest of the papers, however, one of her friends were scouted for a role. This friend, Kaori Kurashima, literally planted her face into the ground and begged Ange to join her.

Ange cant really blame her though, seeing how this is the 1st time Kaori was ever exposed to the limelight. With great reluctance, Ange accepts the proposal. On the bright side, Remirura Hiiro was also present, thus making it much more bearable.

Anyways, after 2 days of explaining the rules and the TRUE rules of the game, Ange and Remi now must be interviewed in front of a live audience about their roles in the game. Kaori was exempted from this because she is only playing a minor villian role.

"_Kaori is lucky…. I, on the other hand, have to put up with all of this crap"_

One good thing about this game is, aside from certain people, everyone is free to choose their starting role in the story.. What happens after that is for them to decide. An example of the ones subjected to the NO CHOICE rule are Kaori (who was recruited to be a side character) and Remi (who was forced to be one of the main heroine.)

"_*sigh* And to make matters worse, Ani-sama started another shady job…"_ Ange thought in annoyance. _"I know it cant be helped, but would it kill him to be present right now? We women are spoiled creatures, you know? We need lots of attention."_

She continues to dwell in her thoughts until she noticed that Remi was already being interviewed, which means she is up next.

"Ms. Hiiro, one last question" Said the annoying host. "Why did you choose this role? Don't get me wrong. I think you're perfect for this role, but I, along with many of your fans, wonder the reason behind your choice of being a heroine"

Much to everyone's surprise, Remi chuckles heartly. "Choice? Surely you jest. I was not given a choice on which role to play. Fret not, I will play the role that is given to me. However, I firmly believe that I am not fit for the role of a heroine."

The host is put in an akward position. In desperation, he quickly moves the discussion to Ange. "A-anyways, moving on. Ange-chan-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" Ange rudely cuts in, silencing everyone for a few seconds.

Suddenly, the audience erupts in applause.

"Oh! As expected of the ICE QUEEN!"

"Cold and cruel!"

"MARRY ME ANGE-SAMA"

"_Disgusting. What was God thinking when he made this lot?"_ Ange cant help but sigh in annoyance.

She turns back to the host. "Didn't you have something to ask? Make it quick."

Unsure on what to do, the host simply asks his question. "Err…. I heard that you're still undicided of your starting role. Care to comment on that?"

"*sigh* I was simply curious about what the other cast wanted to do. I wanted to decide after hearing their choice and why they took that choice."

"Well…. have you decided now? You are the last one interview" replied the host.

"Yes I have actually." Ange pauses for a bit, effectively leaving the audience in suspense. "I want to be a villain."

That earned her a fair number of stares.

"Why would you want to be the bad guy?" Asked the host

"Well, its much better than the alternative" Ange replies arrogantly

"Which is?"

"Being a trophy for THAT guy" Ange rudely points her thumb to the very 1st person in the interview line.

His name is Makoto Kagamika. A famous male idol, an actor and the son of the current head of the RONIN ZAIBATSU. It also goes without saying that he is RONIN ZAIBATSU's player in the game, which in turn, has the highest chance of success.

Now, despite being the son of a not-so-clean family, he is actually a fairly decent guy. He is good natured, helpful and honorable. He is exactly what girls normally fall for. Because of his popularity, 18 of the 20 people present in the interview already swore alligeance to him. 10 of those 18 people are females that will be part of his harem.

…. However, Ange, along with Remi, can see through that façade of his. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree afterall.

"Isnt a bit rude, Ms. Norton?" Makoto Kagamika replies politely, making Ange cringe. "I understand that you dislike me, but would you atleast tell us why?"

"_Ho… using sympathy from the audience huh? Two can play that game"_

"Who knows." Ange shrugs. "Besides, I already belong to someone. I have no intention of letting any other man touch me, game or no game."

That got the audience rilled up. As expected, the host bombared her with questions, however, Ange ignores him and keeps silent.

With that, the interview ends in a fairly annoying manner

-:-

After the interview Ange heads for the cafeteria and slouches on a nearby chair.

"Good work out there, young lady. You showed that brat a thing or two" Andrei gives her a can of strawberry juice, which she drains in one go.

"Nyahahaha! I knew you were a bundle of spite and cruelty, but in front of a live audience?! On national TV?! AWESOME!" Kaori, wearing her usual punk rock attire, slaps Ange in the back repeatedly.

"Naturally. When I cant stand someone, I REALLY cant stand them." Ange replies arrogantly.

"HAHAHAHA! Its no wonder why you don't have much friends!" Andrei laughs as he takes the seat opposite to Ange. "It makes all the effort to dress up like a butler worthwhile. "

As Andrei stated, he was wearing a butler uniform and acts as Ange's personal caretaker.

'Why?' You ask?

It's all Ange's fault. What can she say? Her beauty is like the fire that moths would die for. And like those idiotic moths, men flock to her in waves. Because of that, she requested Andrei to act as her temporary bodyguard.

Anyways, the trio are waiting for Remi for the room assignments for their full dive.

Based on what is advertised, THE WAR OF FORSENA is your typical VMMORPG that boasts the most advanced AI known to man. They say that it is impossible to tell the difference between it and a normal human being.

However, its true gem of TWOF is the ability to overclock the brain and accelerate the player's perception 10000 the norm (not known by the public). With this, they could create a full blown television series with years of content, within only a few months. The show was announced to have atleast 40 episodes per main protagonist.

The main protagonists, 4 in total, are the chosen players of the SPONSORS with the largest _contribution_ to MANEKI NEKO. Each of them will be the lead of their very own 40 episode run, unless they are eliminated early on.

Unfortunately, thanks to all of these contents, the main processing unit required to run TWOF occupies a 10 storie building. The players will fulldive from a separate building located beside the TWOF main frame.

One must wonder, why such an elaborate setup for a simple television series?

"_Well, that's illegal high takes cambling for you."_ Ange thougth.

A few moments later, Remi, with her usual goth loli attire, approaches them. "Good day everyone. I have our room assignments right here. Tis unfortunate that we cannot be at at the same floor…."

True enough, the room placement cleary dictates how favorative the MANEKI NEKO is. Kaori, who only has a minor role, is placed in the 3nd floor. Ange, who has a fair bit of fame, is placed at the 8th floor along with many of the main supporting casts. Remi, who is a main heroine, is at the 10th floor along with the protagonists.

"Well, atleast I wont have to put up with those two faced, backstabbers." Kaori replies with a shrug. "Good luck up there Ange, Remi."

"*sigh* What a pain…." Ange says in annoyance. "I have a short fuse, you know? I cant put up with these things like Remi can."

"Now now. Please do not belittle your abilities Ange." Remi replies "Do you not have Raph-sama as a brother?"

"…. Its scary how much that makes sense…"'

The 3 girls took a seat and talked about trivial matters.

A few minutes later, a familiar (yet unwelcome) young man and his bodyguards approach the three, much to Ange's annoyance.

"Angelica Norton, you bitch! I need to talk to you." Said Makoto Kagamika, not bothering to use his usual nice guy façade.

Before they could get within 10 meters, Andrei blocks their path. "Forgive me, but my employer has given specific orders that Lady Angelica Norton is not to be disturbed."

Ofcourse, Makoto didn't like that. With a snap of his fingers, his 4 bodyguards move forward and faces off with Andrei. Unfortunately for them, the Russian physique towers over the standard Japanese man. Never the less, they are confident that their numbers will see them through.

"Ahem…. I said I need to speak to Angelica Norton. Move aside" Makoto said arrogantly.

"My lady, this person wishes to talk to you"Andrei tells Ange without looking away from his opponents.

"Do I have to talk to him, Andrei?" Ange asks

"Talking with him is a complete and utter waste of your time, IQ and energy. Your aunt would be displeased if I allow you to associate with such low born rabble"

"I see…. I'll trust your judgement on this one. Send them away" Ange replied arrogantly

"Well then, there you have it"Andrei tells Makoto. "Please leave now"

Makoto's bodyguards took it hard and took out their knives. "Think you're a tough guy huh?! Well do ya?!"

Andrei smirks at their attempts to intimidate him. Andrei takes up a boxers pose and observes his opponents next move.

And to make matters worse, the last person anyone (friend or foe) wants to see in a fight enters the cafeteria. With a phone in one hand and 10 of her bodyguards, Catherine Yvoska enters the hall. The moment she spots Andrei and the 3 goons, her scared yet beautiful face smiles in twisted glee.

"Ho…. What's this, Andrei? A fight?" Before anyone could notice, Catherine draws her gold IMI DESSERT EAGLE and levels it at Makoto's head. "Let me join in. I haven't killed anyone for months now."

Catherine's bloodlust erupts and forces everyone within the room to stop moving.

Like all the normal people in the room, Ange is rooted on the spot after a familiar tension grips her throat. The only time she experienced this feeling was when his older brother fought another PKK in SAO. Back then, Ange couldnt see her brother at all…. only a vessel of violence, cruelty and savagery. At that time, Ange only saw a monster.

Anyways, back to the topic.

Right now, even the hardened veterans of the ORGANIZATSIYA couldn't help but fear their very own leader. No…. maybe because they knew her longer than anyone, and seen all the atrocities she has done, made them are more terrified than anyone.

Even the Ronin Zaibatsu punks couldn't even move a muscle. Just like the members of the Organizatsiya, they know all too well who Catherine is.

Though Makoto's legs were shaking in fright, he regains some of his composure. "A-are you sure a-about that? D-don't you know who I am?!"

Catherine turns to Andrei. "Should I know who he is?"

"He is Makoto Kagamika. Son of the Ronin Zaibatsu's head." Andrei replied

"Ho.…. I see." Catherine turns her attention back to Makoto. This time however, her twisted smile became much larger. "In short, this person is wrothless. Is that what you're saying Andrei?"

"Er… Y-yes?" Andrei replied with uncertainty….. it is something that he quickly regretted.

"I see…. I SEE! THAT'S GOOD!" Catherine roars as her face turns from twisted psycho-biatch to a demon. "Since your worthless….. DIE!"

She pulls the trigger. Time stops.

For a second, Ange could see everyone's panic strickened faces. She is fairly sure that her face also has the same look. Makoto, on the other hand, falls backwards, as if he was shot in the head.

But more importantly…. there was silence. The supposed gunshot was not heard and was replaced with *CLICK* sound.

Everyone looks at Catherine in confusion.

"Tch…. Forgot the safety" Catherine said as she turns the safety off. Once again she points the gun at Makoto. "Sorry about that. Lets do it aga-"

Without waiting for Catherine to finish her sentence, Makoto and his cronies makes a mad dash for the nearest exit.

"Well, that takes care of them." Catherine turns to Ange. "Angelica Norton, long time no see. How are you?"

"Im fine Auntie Catherine" Ange replies with a curtsy. "THAT'S NOT IT! What the hell were you thinking?! I don't care if you have a reputation of shooting people when the mood hits you! You don't just aim a loaded gun at someone!"

"Its not problem then. See?" Catherine shows everyone the hollow space where the magazine should be. "It was never loaded in the first place. Don't worry, be happy"

"SHUT IT! I'm telling father!"

"Eh? E-er…. hold on Ange. Lets not blow things out of proportion here." Catherine replies in an extremely rare state of confusion. "I-I know I went to far there, and I'm sorry. It will never happen again. Don't tell your father, okay?"

Ofcourse, Ange knows that Catherine is lying through her teeth, but she decides to let her off easy this time. Her Auntie did save her.

"Well, whatever. By the way, why are you here?" Ange asks

"TWOF is the largest secret illegal gambling event at the moment. It shouldn't be surprising that I'll be invited. " Catherine replies as she turns to leave. "I'm just putting the finishing touches on my BET. I'll take my leave here. I still got a few more stuff to do. Do Svidanya Devotshka"

Ange was going to let Catherine leave in peace…. but something was bothering her. "Hey Auntie…. Who is this BET of yours? Is he any good?"

"Ofcourse he is." Catherine replies without looking back. "You guys should know better than I do. In the realm of VMMORPG, Raphael Norton is a monster."

.

.

.

"_Ani-sama…. You're doing something stupid again…. *sigh*"_

-:-


	17. Beasts of Ayala- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chaos Rising

-:-

'What lies beyond death?'

That question has existed since the first neandethrals started to think beyond food, shelter and propagation. Such a question has driven man to search for answers, be it religion or science. Some grew to fear the great abyss, while some were driven to explore it just out of curiosity.

And truth be told, who doesn't want to know?

Do we go to heaven?

Do we go to hell?

Do we get reincarnated into some fluffy animal?

Do we go to Valhalla?

Or do we simply cease to exist?

Every religion, every faith, and every individual has a different perspective of the next great adventure that is death. And for those who created TWOF, the afterlife is….. something else, to say the least.

It was a dark night, with the stars and the moon were nowhere to be seen. But it was not dark at all. Amidst the endless field of of 15 foot obelisk-like gravemarkers, countless golden flowers illuminate the scenery. Instead of the sky, the earth glowed eerie majesty.

Suddenly, a fairly big piece of rock smashes into his head, forcing him back to reality.

"Hello? Yes? Can you hear me now you rotting pile of bones?" Said a childishly arrogant girl.

Now that he has finally recovered his senses, he finally notices his situation. Just like every other skeleton around him, the lower half of his body was fused into the large obelisk. His upper body is wrapped in chains, making it look like he was crucified.

What a surreal scenario he was in.

To top it all off, the maiden below the obelisk was beautiful. Disturbingly beautiful, to be precise. Sporting an absurd 20 meter long, flawless golden hair and a black, sleeveless Sunday dress with golden flower imprints, the girl stares at him with a dissatisfied look.

"Seriously…. to think I have to go to this place to pick a worthless soul like yours. ME of all people! You should get down on your knees and sing praises in my name!"

As much as IT wants to give into IT's masochistic impulses, being chained and fused into the obelisk limits IT's ability to move.

"*sigh* fine fine. I'll let you down in a bit." The girl said, as if reading his thoughts.

"FYI. Yes, I can read your thoughts. This is ME we're talking about here. Reading a lesser being's mind is already expected of the great and powerful ME." The girl said arrogantly. "The fact that I've even bothered reading your mind is like giving the most expensive jewel in the world to a lowly street urchin. You REALLY should be thankful"

….. What a pain…. he thought

"HEY! I heard that!"

With a snap of her fingers, the obelisk crumbles and he falls face first into the ground. Without missing a beat, the golden girl's foot smashes into his head.

"Ho…. Not only did I come for you, I'm also stepping on you? No one, and I mean NO ONE, living or dead, has ever had the honor of ever touching my perfect skin. Mongrel, do you now understand how blessed you are?" The girl said as she futher adds inhumane amounts of force into his head.

Fortunately, he is already dead, so no matter how much force the golden girl applies, his skull does not break.

After a few seconds of stomping, the golden girl finally gets bored. She summons an extravagant chair out of thin air and sits on it like a spoiled brat.

"Out of curiosity, do you understand why you are here?" She asked.

He has a vauge idea of his predicament. The fact that he is reduced to nothing more than a pile of bones means that he has died. He cant remember HOW exactly it died, but he cannot deny the fact that he has been knocked out of the game. Vexing as it may be, he has no choice but to accept the results.

"Ha? What makes you think you're out of the game? Did you seriously believe that you can just drop out of the game without MY permission? Cocky brat arent you" The girl rudely points her toes at him (which he finds to be very sexy by the way)

He was confused. Based on what limited knowledge he has retained of the game, were they not in the placed called THE FINAL RESTING PLACE? Was this realm where all of the dead's data is enshrined for all eternity?

"Well, yeah." The girl replied. "So? What's your point?"

If he is here, then he has lost. Or was his wrong?

"You are obviously wrong. I don't care if ZADKIEL was able to wrestle you from my grasp. What's mine is obviously mine." She said in a fairly aggressive tone. Clearly she didn't like this ZADKIEL person. "It goes without saying that YOUR fate is MINE to dictate. And since you're too interesting to kill off, I'm forcing you back to life. And NO, you have no say in this"

….. For some unknown reason, this situation reminds him of a similar event back in a certain death game….

He cant help but reflect how spineless he is against strong willed bishoujos.

Suddenly, a terrible thought crosses h5s mind.

Maybe, just maybe….. could he be an "M"?

…. A horrifying thought indeed.

"Enough of your internal monologue and listen." The golden girl commands. "Normally, people die when they get killed, right?"

IT agrees, though the way the golden girl phrased her sentence was hilarious for some reason.

"Fortunately for you, in this world, those who get killed don't necessarily stay dead. That's the main reason why there are more undeads than there are rats." The girl explained with a fair bit of seriousness in her voice. "You're smart enough to understand where this conversation is going, right?"

Yes, he understands all to well. Based on what the golden girl has said, he is to be resurrected as the game's most villed playable race, a REVENANT. No wonder he cant remember his in-game past, REVENANTS are suppose to lose its memories along with its race, class and status.

NOTE: The game doesn't delete the player's IRL memories, it only reduces the IRL memories priority in favor of the in-game memories, which are stored in a unit within the player's designated room. As the in-game memories accumulate, it becomes harder for the player to recall his/her IRL memories. This function allows the players to act out his/her role as convincing as possible.

Because of the lack of in-game memories, he can recall his IRL self perfectly. he knows that he is Raphael Arisato Norton from Tokyo. He also knows that his objective is not to win the game, but to make sure a certain someone loses.

' Why is Raphael Norton referring to himself as HE or HIS?' you ask?

The answer is actually 2 folds.

1st, due to the lack of in-game memories, he actually doesn't know the name of his character. Sure enough, as stated in the REVENANT's race profile, he will recover his memories in due time.

2nd and probably THE MOST IMPORTANT reason of all….. coz it sounds cool. The fact that he doesn't know anything about his past adds flavor to his mysterious character. Now most people may dismiss this 2nd reason as senseless (and it is actually), but a little mystery is the spice that brings out the full flavor of a character.

Anyways, back to the situation at hand.

At the moment, the golden girl is strangling his by the neck with her long (and surprisingly tough) hair.

"You ACTUALLY ignored ME?! And for what? That stupid internal monologue of yours?! Arent you a cocky bastard?!"

For the next few minutes, the golden girl proceeds to throw him around like a rag doll. As much as he wants to expound the brutality of his current situation, the gory details are better off left unsaid for the sake of the younger viewers.

Eventually, the golden girl returns to her golden chair after inflicting a satisfactory amount of pain to him.

"This is the main reason why I decided to let you live. You are simply too interesting to kill off." Said the girl in a proud voice. "If you can cause this much annoyance, imagine what anarchy and madness can you do to the world? Do you understand brat?"

He nods in agreement. A second shot at the game is an opportunity he must not miss.

"Very well then." The girl approaches him and presses her hand over his ribcage.

" You who has died shall be reborn.

You who were reborn must now fight in my name.

You who fights in my name will slay all my enemies.

You who will slay all my enemies, do you accept to your role as my sword?"

He nods in approval.

Without warning, his vision suddenly distorts. Unable to keep itself standing, he falls face first into the ground. Before his consciousness fades, the girls voice whispers something to his ear.

"Under my name, you shall give the world a show it will never EVER forget. Go forth and bring me glory, my little puppet. Go forth, AVATAR OF ASMODEUS."

-:-

If there is anything that he has learned after his awakening, it was how the world is full contradictions.

The noon sky was pure blue with a dash of white clouds along the side, perfectly blocking the full heat without covering the landscape with shadows. If anything, the weather is perfect for a family picnic.

Underneath the perfect sky….. is the text book definition of the word DISGUSTING. For as far as the eye can see, dead trees litered the horizon. As if to complement the trees, mindless rotting human corpses walk aimlessly, as if searching a means to end their miserable existence.

"_How can the world be so beautiful and so disgusting at the same time?! It's absurd, I tell ya!"_

He stands, or atleast tries to, but loses balance and sinks into the blood red water. Suprsingly, the river itself was corpse free. Maybe they all came back to life as an undead and moved on?

Anyways, he swims to the nearest dry land. The second he got out of the water, he instantly noticed a few points of interest.

1st. Despite being surrounded by thousands of hungry undead, he remains unharmed. Being dead has it perks after all.

2nd. He can actually see through his body, seeing how he is nothing but a skeleton. He knows it's an irrelevant thought, but it's not everyday one can just take a peek into his _inner self._ Its very eye opening experience if he says so himself.

3rd and the most important one, is his unnatural right arm. Instead of a skeleton like the rest of his body, it is a black metallic arm with red veins pulsing through it. He knows that it is a BLACK HAND, which can only be gained after completing a 2nd tier class change quest. The question is, why does he, a newly revived player, have a 2nd tier armament?

He closed his eyes and thought._"Open: Status Page"_

Instantly, a classical RPG status sheet appears in his mind. Almost everything is as expected of a dead man, a completely blank slate, except for the fact that he is already in 2nd tier.

A bug? A quest event? Or something else?

Either way, pondering about it will do him no good. For now, he tackles his immediate dilema…. clothes. Being butt naked makes him….. uncomfortable, and not for the reason everyone thinks. It's disturbing to see how non-existent his gluteus maximus is. He doesn't mean to brag, but his prosterior is one fine piece of ass.

He grabes a wide assortment of clothings from the zombies around him, and with a few minutes of fashion coordinating, a black hooded figure walks calmly amongst the dead. The armor he salvaged is pathetically weak, and the only weapon he could find was a make shift club….. the future looks dark.

For now, he lays out his options and plans a course of action.

First off, he is obviously not amongst allies. Even though the undead ignores him, he's sure he wont get any valuable information from them. What he needs are armors, training and more importantly, allies….. and there is only one place that would welcome a REVENANT to their ranks…. ARIA.

With that in mind, the second course of action is instantly decided. He needs to find a way to get to ARIA. But first, he needs a heading. He knows that ARIA exists within the 500 foot tall STORM WALL, just within the outer bounderies of the continental sized GREAT REAPING STORM. Due to the shear size of the storm, it is visible from nearly any part of the world.

He walks around until he finds the tallest tree possible and begins to climb it. However, the moment he exerted full strength on his right arm, was the moment he understood how much he has underestimated its strength.

Instead of simply pulling himself up, the arm slingshots him at high speeds, smashing him into a branch a few meters above him, then crashes painfully back into the ground.

"_Well…. That was unexpected…."_

He picks himself up, then tries again….. this time, in a much slower pace. Thanks to that, he began to understand a couple of things about his arm.

1st. His fingers can sink into almost any surface, allowing him to scale any terrain he encounters. It also seems to apply to living things as well. He tried to use a passing bird as fulcrum to swing to another tree, and surprisingly, it worked….. sort off. He did successfully grab and hold the bird, unfortunately, he also killed it and fell painfully to the ground.

A bird can't hold his weight in mid air, and that's when it's alive. A dead one wont do any better.

2nd. His arm is so strong, that he was able to launch himself 5 feet into the air from a lying position, simply by pushing the ground with full force. If he can do that with gravity working against him, imagine how far he could go if he move horizontally.

In short, his arm was not intended to do damage (though it can do it extreamly well), but to grant the wielder unparalled mobility across any terrain. That's exactly how he likes it.

Once gain, he climbs the trees, but after employing his new found mobility, it didn't even take him 20 seconds to reach the top of the 30 foot tall tree. If anyone saw him from below, he would look like he was gracefully gliding amongst the branches.

From the top, it didn't take him long to spot from the distance, the massive GREAT REAPING STORM. Its really hard to miss, unless you think a red colored storm cloud is natural. Unfortunately, the distance from point A to point B is….. far to say the least. Judging visual data alone, it would probably take him atleast a year to reach the STORM WALL.

"_One hell of a nature walk…. *sigh*" _

With those words said, the REVENANT silently disappears amongst the dead trees.

-:-

PARKOUR- is a holistic training discipline using movement that developed out of military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to move quickly and efficiently through their environment using only their bodies and their surroundings to propel themselves, negotiating obstacles in between. They try to maintain as much momentum as possible without being unsafe. Parkour can include running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement and more, if they are the most suitable movements for the situation.

Well, atleast that's the Wikipedia version of it.

In leymans terms, Parkour is the art of running away….. with _STYLE_.

Either way, the REVENANT enjoys it immensely, though he can only do it in-game. As a matter of fact, he is so good at it, that he could make the vine swinging Tarzan look like an amature. Unfortunately, after 5 hours of non stop parkour, he is still nowhere near his destination.

"_*sigh*….. this isn't working. There has to be a faster way to get around here. And if there's anything I know about anime, that would be the fact that anime and logic don't go along very well. I'm sure there's an abnormally high-tech transport in this medieval wor-"_

Suddenly, he was struck with an intense hunger that caused him to lose focus and smash into a nearby tree.

_**There's food nearby.**_

_Where? _

_**20 meters to the east. **_

_Course of action?_

_**Track it. Hunt it. Capture it. **_

_Then what? _

_**Take everything from it. **_

_**Leave nothing for it. **_

_**Rend. **_

_**Rip. **_

_**Bite. **_

_**Claw. **_

_**Chew.**_

_**Eat.**_

_**EATEATEATEATEATEATEATEATEATEATEAT! NOW!NOW!NOW!NOW!NOW! NOW!NOW!NOW!NOW!**_

"_SHUT THE F*CK UP!"_

He bashes his head into a tree repeatedly in a desperate attempt to keep his sanity. Eventually, the the voices stop and he regains his composure. Indeed, he knew about the REVENANT's need to consume mana from other living beings, but he expected a simple warning window as a sign that he needed to feed… not ghastly voices that nearly drove him insane.

"_Well, atleast its realistic…..*sigh*…. Things just keeps better and better"_

For now, he follows his urge to eat and heads east. A few seconds later, he stops and hides himself amongst the branches. A few meters below are 2 elves with a fairly large net. What strikes him odd, is the fact that these 2 are fishing for zombies. Underneath their net, atleast 50 or so zombies were squirmed like sardines in their futile attempt to get free.

For now he stealthly approaches the two and listens to their conversation.

"What a haul! Seriously, looks like the gods are looking out for us this time around." Said a tall, muscular elf. "58 in our very first trap of the day. Imagine the dough we get if the others are as good as this one"

On the other hand, the younge elf didn't share his partner's enthusiasm, seeing how he looks at their prize with fair bit uneasiness.

"The buyer was paying 10 gold a piece right? Don't you find it weird? I mean, what could the buyer possibly do to those that would be worth 10 gold?" The young elf asks.

"Oh, right. You're a last minute recuit. Didn't the head office brief you on anything?"

The young elf shakes his head. "I was just hired 3 hours ago. All they said the pay is good as long as I do whatever you say. That's it."

"Damn those lazy bastards. They only had one job and they cant even do it?!" The muscular elf facepalms and sighs."Well whatever. The job is so easy, even a brain dead monkey-wolf can do it. Listen carefully, got it?"

From the shadows the REVENANT listens in carefully.

There is a nameless festival that is celebrated every end of the month in a city called CORSANT, located about 300 kilometers outside the STORM WALL. The festival is exactly what you expect from a festival. Tons of merchants, tons of food, and tons of performers, thus making the city one of the most successful cities in the world. This city is also frequently visited by the DIABOLIS in their ever persistent search for a SUPPORTER.

The main highlight of the festival is a survival game called THE ROULLETE. Set in a massive ruins a few kilometers from CORSANT, the players will be pitted against millions of zombies. The game is open to anyone in the 2st tier only, simply because of a DIABOLIS superstition that their destined SUPPORTER can be found in the 2nd tier.

The rules are simple. For 5 agonizing hours, survive or die.

The prize….. well…. There is no actual prize, except the honor of being called a true survivor. Ofcourse, no one wants that. What they are really after is the small chance of catching the DIABOLIS' eye and an even smaller chance of becoming a SUPPORTER.

'Why Zombies though?' you ask?

The answer is two folds.

1st, using full blown demons would kill all the participants. Before that, the sacrifices to capture one of those would be astronomical in terms of gold and lives. To make matters worse, the ARIAN demon hunters do their job too well, leaving almost no demon for the forces of light to capture.

2nd and more importantly, is choosing a fairly weak monster would increase the chances of survival of the participating nobles. Those lazy fat asses are the one who pays for everything after all.

This is where the elves come in. The 2 elves are part of a large group who is tasked to gather up as much zombies as they possibly can. The zombies are then transported to CORSANT via a 2 week train ride, dumped into the ruins and are ignored there after.

The REVENANT was very surprised at the valuable info the two provided. Over a year of trekking over harsh terrain suddenly reduced to an uncomfortable 2 week train ride, and all he needs to do is blend in with the zombies and get captured.

He cant thank them enough for the opportunity they gave him. His gratitude for them is so great, he almost make him want to not eat them… ALMOST.

He silently climbs back up, repositions just above the young elf and after a second of aiming, he launches himself to the elf. He swings down full force both his arm and his mace, slamming the young lad into the ground. Unfortunately, due to the BLACK HAND's large damage output added to the backstab damage, the young elf dies instantly.

"_Wops… I just wanted to cripple him enough so he could drain him. Not kill him out right." _He thought in regret. _"Well… whats done is done. Better not waste the other one"_

He quickly rushes to the muscular elf before he could recover from the shock. His fist sinks into the elf's face, quickly followed by a mace to the knee, causing the elf to lose balance and fall. He sinks his fingers into the elfs neck and begins draining the elf's life, similar to how a vampire does it with his teeth.

"N-no way! A REVE-" was the last thing the elf said before the REVENANT drains all the life out of him.

The REVENANT almost feels guilty for killing the unfortunate man…. Once again, ALMOST. Draining the elf instantly alleviates his hunger, but the mana he drained was a pitiful 25. From the looks of it, he can drain anything with life, but the mana he gets is about 25% of the total life of his target. And the annoying part of it all, is the upper limit of how much mana he needs to drain.

Reincarnation:** 25/ ?**

In short, he has no idea how much mana is needed for his reincarnation.

"_Well…. One step at a time."_

For now, he forces himself under the net along with the other zombies and waits. About 30 minutes later, a large group of hunters, along with some war elephants, comes by in search of their comrades. After they deduced their comrades deaths, they hooked the net to the elephant and dragged the zombies to the nearest station. There the REVENANT was stuffed into a cargo compartment, and began the long 2 week journey to CORSANT.

-:-

1 week, 5 days later

The train ride was uncomfortable as expected, but it did give the REVENANT a fair bit of time to think. In that time to think, he was able to become one with the world and attained the answer to world's ultimate question.

Ultimate question: If this world is set in a medieval environment, WHY THE HELL IS THERE A TRAIN HERE?!

Ultimate answer: You'll get nowhere if you try to make sense on every little thing in anime.

Anime is the world where King Arthur is a woman, a 30 year old looks like a child, a guy suddenly turns into a girl for no good reason, and most importantly, it is where small breasts are more seductive than large ones. There is no sense in this world, so don't bother trying to find something that was purposely removed in the first place.

In short….. the REVENANT has way too much time on his hands. He even performed a couple of experiments during the past few days, which wielded some amazing discoveries.

The first experiment he did was actually one of the problems that plagued him the second he was stuffed like a sardine into the cargo train. How was he supposed to get any sleep?!

The answer lied on his race.

Though he is a superior version of his bretheren, he is still an undead, and undeads are beings with no living brains, thus required no sleep to keep their brains in working order. This works in favor of the REVENANT because his brain is not connected to his virtual body. All he needs to do is fall asleep naturaly and his undead body loses the characteristics of a REVENANT, thus turning him into an average zombie. The zombie, then, does what its does best….. stand idly like in imbecile.

Fortunately, that also goes for food. As long as the REVENANT _sleeps_, his body wont feel any hunger. This is how he has spent the last few days without going insane. He either sleeps his ass off, or go on a spiritual trance and search for the meaning of life.

As he was pondering the possible existence of smexy underwear in this world, he suddenly hears footsteps on top of his carriage. A few seconds later, a small shaft opens up, blinding the REVENANT with the 1st bit of sunshine in his days in confinement. He spots 3 figures, 2 elves violently restraining a small tan skinned youth, which he instantly recognizes as a dark elf.

"No! Please! I don't want to go in there!" The tanned youth kicked and screamed with all her might, but to no avail.

"Shut up you filthy dark elf! " The elf smashes his fist into her face to silence her."People like you are equal to those zombies down there. We're just reuniting you with your bretheren, that's all."

….. and as expected, the REVENANT didn't take it well.

"_Oh no he didn't! Did he just hit a loli?! A tanned skinned loli at that! That asshole is a dead man!"_

Though he thought that, the REVENANT remains calm and composed. As much as he wants to rip the elves teticles right out of their hinges, the prospect of losing his only transport to ARIA makes him hesitate. For now, he decides to take the safer alternative by saving the girl.

He isn't doing this because the tanned skinned girl is a loli that fit perfectly with his tasts….. Really! He has absolutely no ulterior motive what so ever!

He stealthly moves just beneath the hatch and prepares to catch the girl. As expected, the two elves thrown in the dark elf. He reaches out and catches the girl, then quickly pulling her down to the floor. He, then, uses his body to cover the girl, removing her from the elves sight and shielding her from the zombies around them.

"No! Don't! Help! I don't want to die!" The girl screamed hysterically. A reasonable reaction by all means

"Calm down will you! Im not going to hurt you!" the REVENANT said, much to his surprise. He didn't expect that he could talk, seeing how he has no muscles in his body.

His words fall on deffs ears as the girl screamed and kicked wildly, causing the zombies to pile up on him. In desperation, he covers her mouth hard, all the while, focused on hearing what the two elves were talking about.

"*tch* she died too quickly. The zombies didn't even make her scream."

"And to think that was our last slave. What a let down."

A few seconds later, the two elves finally leaves.

"Phew…. They're finally gone" He checks on the girls condition who was surprisingly quiet. "You all right kid?"

The girl nods timidly.

"Good. Im gonna get a little rough here, so brace yourself"

With the girls concent, the REVENANT uses SACRIFICE, losing 70% of his hp in the process. Truth be told, he doesn't want to use it so early in the game, especially with no means of recovering aside from his standard regeneration, but the safety of a tan skinned loli is at stake. No sacrifice is beneath him!

"_Forgive me, my undead brothers….. but a loli is worth more than a billion of us!"_

"URYAAAAAAAAAA!"

The mountain of corpse explodes, clearing it just enough for the REVENANT to escape. Using the the zombies as a stepping stone, he grabs the girl and runs towards the nearest wall, dodging the bodies that he threw up in the air. The moment the bodies hit the floor, the small mountain of corpse reforms itself. The REVENANT climbs it and jumps to the roof, latching his right arm right beside the hatch.

"Phew…. safe" He said. Just below them, the zombies futily reaches out to grab them. "You alright kid?"

"Y-yeah" The loli replied in hesitation. Its understandable though, seeing how the one that saved her looks no different from the ones that are trying to kill her. "So…. What now?"

"Havent really thought that far…. Hmm…."The REVENANT thinks for a bit. "Well…. For now, we should just hang here until the train refuels. When we stop, I'll push you out the hatch. Easy right?"

"Okay….." The girl said timidly.

A few minutes pass in akward silence, much to the REVENANT's dismay.

"_Oy… whats with the uncomfortanle silence! Holding a tan skinned loli is a once in a lifetime experience! I must deepen our relationship before she leaves! GREAT PERVERTED GODS IN HEAVEN, GIVE ME STRENGTH!"_

Now that he has the time to look, the tan skinned loli was definitely his type. She has short, wavy, punkish looking black hair, with striking purple eyes. Her skin is light brown, giving off a latina vibe to her already-godlike Lolita charm. Give her a few years, and she would grow to a seductively hot woman

"_MOE! SO MOTHERF*CKING MOE! Perverted Gods in heaven, I THANK THEE!"_

Fortunately for the REVENANT, he doesn't have any facial muscle to show his perverted face.

"Er….. can I ask you something?" The girl breaks the silence.

"Sure. It's not like we have anything better to do"

"Why did you save me?" The girl asks, revealing a bit of fear in her voice. "You're a REVENANT right? Normally, they pretty much drain anything that has life."

Well, truth be told, he DOES have a powerful urge to drain her dry. He can tell that the girl has the makings of a mage, seeing how the impulse to eat is stronger than the two elves he drain. However, this impulse was overwhelmed by his love for lolis. The idea of hurting a loli fills him with righteous fury. He'd rather cut off his own testicles than do harm to a loli!

"Well…. About that…. Hmm.. How can I explain this." He thinks for a second. "Well…. I guess simple explanation for it all is love at first sight."

.

.

.

.

"HA?!" The girl replied in disgust. "Im being serious here!"

"So am I!" he replied with conviction. "From your smooth wavy black hair, to your brown skin, and even your loli-rific body! Everything turns me on! MARRY M-"

The girl smashes her fist into the REVENANTS skull. "PERVERT! PEDOPHILE! SCUM! ENEMY OF ALL WOMEN! DISGUSTING PIECE OF MANURE! GO IN A DITCH AND DIE!"

"WAHAHAHAHA! Flattery will get you nowhere my beautiful, tan skinned flower!"

With that, the atmosphere between them lightened, and eventually, the little girl revealed some information about herself

Her name is Matina Aplaya, a daughter of a fairly unique SCHOOL of support mages called COMBAT MAGES. What they can actually do is a family secret, thus she refuse to expound any further.

NOTE: A SCHOOL is a term used in this world as the place where someone learns the techniques that sets them apart from anyone in the same class.

For example, lets say there are two TITANS (3rd teir Melee Heavy Attacker of the Infernals) that wields two different set of weapons. One of them carries a warhammer is his primary, while his off hand is a long sword. The other one wields a spear as his primary, and a mace as his off hand. It is obvious that both of them cannot fight in the same way as the other.

This is where the SCHOOLS come in. The students gain skills, knowledge and combat logics based on the weapon/magic that they use. After they have learned the basics, it is up to the student on what to do next. He can either follow the SCHOOL's teaching to the letter, or create his very own style.

This is the main reason why there are no two people with the same skill set even if they are in the same BASE CLASS.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand.

3 weeks ago, Matina and 4 other pupils in her school went to IZUMO, the capital city of the forces of light, out of plain curiosity, and ofcourse, without the consent of their masters. They believed that the IZUMO PACT would keep them safe….. they were wrong. They were captured and as the only female in her group, she was sold into slavery while the others were killed.

The one that bought her was also the same person that threw her in the zombie cargo hold. Her buyer wanted to have some kinky time with her, but unfortunately for him, she was a feisty tomboy. She fought back violently and tried to kill her captors. Unfortunately, she is only a teir one mage against 2 2nd teir BUSHIs, thus, she was beaten badly. Her punishment was to be thrown in with the zombies and _reflect_ on her insubordination….. assuming that she lives through it ofcourse.

After hearing this sad and tragic tale, the REVENANT made a small mental note to kill the 2 elves in the most painful manner he can find.

When Matina asked for his background, he was fairly dejected that he had nothing to share, seeing how he has only 1 week worth of memories.

For the next hour, they talk about trivial matters…. and for some reason, the REVENANT felt like they have known each other for a long time. For 1st time in his short undead life, he was strangely at peace.

-:-

The train eventually slows down to a stop, marking the end of their short time together.

"Well then…. Looks like this is it." The REVENANT said with a hit of sadness in his voice. "You can find your way from here, right?"

"Yeah…." Matina replies in kind

"Good."

He pulls himself near the hatch, allowing the girl to push it open and climb.

"Good luck out there kid." He said.

Matina stares at him for a few seconds. "Hey…. Why don't you come with me? Im sure it's much better than being traped in that hell hole."

" Tempting offer, but I'll pass. The outside world is too dangerous for a REVENANT, seeing how crapy our reputation is." He replies. "You, on the other hand, are safe since this station is only 2 stations away from the STORM WALL."

"Y-yeah… but there are more Arians here. You'll be safe too."

"But the vast majority of the people here are from the Light right?"

"Y-yeah…." Matina bites her lips in frustration. "…. Damn it! If you want to stay there, then go ahead! Don't you dare die! I still haven't kicked your perverted behind enough!"

"WHAHAHA! You insult me! How can I possibly die when I'm already dead?"

With one last smile, Matina leaves.

"_Till we meet again kid"_

-:-

Dawn, the next day.

The REVENANT's awakening was far from peaceful. When he exited his sleep, he was 20 feet from the ground, and falling fast. He looks behind him and spots the cargo carriage he was riding. It was tilted 90 degrees in order to quickly dump its cargo. How it did that is beyond him.

"_Im fragile damn it!"_

He quickly realigns himself and lands on his feet. He sprints as fast as he could so that he wouldn't be crushed by the other zombies.

"_If they unloaded us…. Then this is the battleground."_

He was in a large desolated, European town. It was about 1 kilometer in diameter, and was surrounded by a 30 tall wall. On top of that wall are stands that emulates the roman colosseum.

"_Ho…. Interesting. Being rich sure has its perks. I mean, who would waste so much money just to watch people die? Those rich bastards are almost as confusing as women…. Almost."_

Judging from the lack of spectators, the game still hasn't begun.

"_Good."_

He begins maping the surroundings to the best of his abilities. As an Assassin type player, the terrain has always been his greatest weapon

"_fu fu fu…. Im gonna eat lots today!"_

Its been a while, but the chance of taking a life has never been so tempting.

-:-

Noon, the same day

"_*sigh*….. what am I doing with my life?"_ thought the snow white girl

On top of the throne sat a girl with short silver hair with matching silver eyes. She wears a gothic Lolita themed dress, making her look like a princess out of a fairy tale. As for her name…. well…. She has 2.

Traditionally, DIABOLIS uses the word that describes them best as their name. This name is also a secret that can only be told to the one she trusts the most, or atleast that's what DIABOLIS tradition states. Her DIABOLIS name is The Scarlet Devil.

'Why is she called that when she is pure white?' you ask?

Well…. If there was any fighting, anyone would instantly understand why she is named as such.

As for the name she wears in public, she is known as Sakuya Izayoi. A name given to her by the _Chosen One,_ Touma Ieyasu.

She, along with 9 other DIABOLIS has visited CORSANT to watch nobles and commoners do their pitiful attempt to impress them. Yes… THE ROULLETE has always been a pathetic excuse of a mating call for the weak and pitiful.

Truth be told, she has absolutely no interest in THE ROULLETE what so ever. She was forced by the other DIABOLIS to come after seeing her in a grief strickened state for so long.

Considering what she has done, no one can really blame her for being depressed. Sakuya's idiocity and misunderstanding led to her betrayal, which killed the person that she admired the most. If she only used her head and got her facts straight instead of letting her emotions get the better of her, her beloved wouldn't have died.

And as if to add insult to injury, she isn't even allowed to grief because the body was nowhere to be found. Even the BLACK HAND that they created together was also missing.

But she deserves all the suffering that the world can throw at her, for she killed the one she love because of love.

Suddenly, a fat old man blocks her view.

"Lady Sakuya, it's wonderful to see you again." The old man respectfully bows.

"_Disgusting ingrate! Social climbers the lot of you! How dare you interrupt my thoughts!"_ Sakuya roared in her head.

"Yes, a pleasure to see you too … er… Forgive my rudeness, but who are you again?" Sakuya replies elegantly without revealing her inner thoughts.

The old man looked a little hurt, but he quickly controls his emotions. " I am Onji Takazoku of the Takazoku Smiths. You met my son 3 days ago in Ieyasu banquet"

"We did?"Sakuya looks at him questioningly. "I do apologize, but I simply cannot remember. Surely I would have remembered….. that is, if your son is someone of great significance"

For a second, the old man's face distorts in anger but he quickly regains his composure, much to Sakuya's enjoyment. Truth be told, she remembers his son fairly well, however, her calculated response were ment to drag Onji Takazoku pride through the mud. And if there's something she knows well, it is that nobles don't like being humiliated very much.

"W-well… I'm sure you'll remember him once you see him. He is out there in the field right now." Onji replies and finaly stops blocking her view. "He is a fine BUSHI of considerable skill if I say so myself"

"_What are you? His promoter?"_ Sakuya thought in annoyance.

She looks at her handheld screen which displays the names of the participants and their remaining life. Much to her surprise, 28 of the 50 participants have already died only after 1 hour. Even in large groups, the brainless zombies are no match for the 2nd tier warriors skill and tactics and that is a fact. This is the main reason why THE ROULLETE is treated as a joke amongst the DIABOLIS.

However…. There is that rare instance that _something dangerous_ has been mixed in with the zombies, and this might be one of those times.

"_This may be entertaining"_ She thought while hiding a sadistic smile.

-:-

2 hours has passed since the start of THE ROULLETE…. And the REVENANT was having the time of his life! Not only has he drained 19 of the 45 dead participants, he also turned the battlefield into his very own hunting ground. All of it made possible thanks to his unexpected allies, the zombies.

Thanks to his undead breatheren, he was able to peform 3 very effective (and very fun) methods in killing his tagerts.

1st. Act like an innocent zombie. If the target decides to kill him, he'll attack before his enemy, thus catching the target by surprise. If the target decides to ignore him, he will rush to the target and backstab him before the target can react. He will then proceed to beat the target within an inch of his life… or atleast until the target is disabled. Finally, drain the target dry. Rinse repeat.

2nd. Meld amongst the zombies that are swarming on a prey. While the prey (or preys) are distracted with the zombies, he'll launch a surprise attack on them. Then he follows his SOP: beat down, disable, drain.

3rd (and probably the most entertaining of all). This strategy only works on those targets who are people who are not used to combat. He proceeds to beat them down as usual, though at this point, the target will either beg for his life or start praying to his god. The REVENANT gives them a false sense of hope by letting them go. The moment they let their guard down, he quickly strikes and drains them.

Now he knows this is a bit evil, even for him, but for some reason, the intense hunger does drive him to be extra cruel. Annoying voices that you cant stop does strain one's sanity a fair bit.

On a lighter note, his club was upgraded to a morning star….. thanks to the generous donation of his 18th victim.

Anyways, thanks to the help of his undead breatheren, the final 5 survivors are cornered in a 4 story building right in the middle of town. With no way other way to survive but to wait for the time limit, the 5 destroys the stairs and baracades themselves on the higher floor.

A wise decision…. and also a foolish one. They should already figure out by now that there is something seriously wrong about THE ROULLETE. They should have abandoned their pride and call for help rather than risk it all for a win.

"_Bravery and stupidity does go hand in hand."_

Either way, he has them right where he wants them.

"_Time to hunt!"_

-:-

"_This was suppose to be MY day! I was suppose to come out triumphant! WHY WHY WHY is this happening?! I didn't sign up for this!"_ the elf Goro Takazoku thought as he paced back and forth on the top floor of the building.

How can he NOT panic? Just outside his window lies a sea of rotting corpses that would very much like to take a piece of him….. literally!

And to make matters worse, the 4 other survivors are incompetent commoners. They should have put his safety and well being above their own! Yet they selfishly thought of their own concers instead of insuring the HE, the only noble left in the compition, survives!

"_How dare they! When I get out of here, I'll make sure to tell daddy about these ungreateful -"_

Suddenly, a high pitch scream from below breaks his line of thought. In great annoyance, he rushes down to give the commoner a piece of his mind. He storms down the stairs and heads to the nearest room.

"Ingrate! How dare you interu-"

The sight that welcomed him was….. unpleasant. No….. _unpleasant_ is an understatent to the brutality of the scene. One of the female survivors, her name he didn't bother to remember, had her head separated from her shoulders, causing her blood to squirt like a fountain.

The sight of it all made him puke violently. Never in his life has he seen so much blood.

Eventually, the other survivors come up to investigate.

"What the hell happe- Good Lord!" said a low breed Canus Lupis . He violently grabs Goro by the collar"Hey fatass! What the hell happened here?! If you had anything to do about this, I'll throw you out the damn window!"

"You filthy commoner! I am a noble of great stature! I would never lay my hands on disgusting low breeds like yourself! Now let go of me this instance!"

The two of them continued to scream at each other until another low breed interrupts them.

"Stop it Dalk. Pansy pants didn't do it" Said another low born Canus Lupis as he points at the girls neck. "Look here. Her neck was squeezed until it broke off its hinges. There's no way a weakling like Pansy pants here can do it. Hell, none of us has the strength to do this"

Reluctantly, Dalk releases Goro. "For real? Then who the hell did it Risz?!"

The lowborn named Risz thinks for a second. His face lights up in realization….. then turns pale in fear.

"Oy…. Commoner…. Why do you make such a fearful face?" Goro asks, dreading the answer he is about to hear.

Risz looks at them fearfully, then speaks. "I think…. No…. I'm sure, theres a REVENANT mixed in with the other zombies. That's the only possible explanation. There is no way for a regular zombie to climb up the 3rd floor afterall"

The mood quickly plummets at Risz words.

Indeed, THE ROULLETE has hosted its fair share of REVENANTS in the past, with one REVENANT using a completely different method from the others. Regardless of their method, each and every time one is present, the death count skyrockets. Normally, the contestants would team up to slay the dangerous undead, but this time is different. Never have they fought a REVENANT that kept its existence hidden until it was too late.

"Crap…. This is bad…." Said Dalk. Then suddenly he remembers something. "Hey! Where the hell is that gnome?!"

Forgetting about their low born status, Goro joins the 2 Canus Lupis and dashes out of the room. The last place they saw him was on the second floor near the stairs, thus they ran full speed towards that place.

However, upon reaching the place, the gnome was nowhere to be found, but they didn't have to search long. They only needed to look down the end of the corridor to find the gnome. He was dangling 3 feet above the ground with a staff impaling him through his mouth.

"Oh god….." Risz said in disbelief.

"This is beyond brutal." Dalk says as he approaches the gnome. He observes the corpse, trying to find a clue that would lead them to the REVENANT. "Damn, look at this Risz. The poor bloke got his-"

Suddenly, the door beside Dalk explodes. A hooded figure smashes its fist into Dalk's head and drives him into the wall, crushing his skull and killing him instantly.

"Wops… Didn't mean to kill him in 1 shot." The hooded figure says. " I guess backstab damage + 50% sacrifice is a bit too much. 20% is the higher limit huh…. Well whatever."

The figure turns to face them, and at the very instant they saw its skeletal face, fear gets the best of Goro.

"No! I don't want to die!"

Goro runs.

-:-

"YOU COWARD!" the Canis Lupis roared at the fleeing elf, but the REVENANT gives him no time for insults.

He rushes towards his target and lets loose a confusing barrage of punch, mace strikes, spinning elbows, claws, etc. His fighting style focuses on confusing the enemy with different types of attacks until his opponents guard breaks. To make matters worse for his enemy, each and every one of his strikes are strong and heavy as they are endless.

The cutlass wielding Canis Lupis desperately blocks and parries the incoming blows, but the small corridor doesn't give him much room to maneuver… exactly as the REVENANT planned it.

"_Alright. Time to dance!"_

The REVENANT's attack pattern suddenly changes. He swings his mace powerfully, which is blocked by his target. Then quickly followed by a barrage of straight punches which knocks the enemy unbalance. He spins and launches a full force mace strike which hits its mark, crushing the targets ribs in the process.

Without missing a beat, he sinks his right hand into the target's neck drains him of his life, all the while recovering the REVENANTs HP.

"_Man… sacrificing 50% was a bad move. I was lucky the fatass ran for his life. If he didn't, I would have died a second time, and that would be unpleasant."_ The REVENANT reflects on his mistakes. _"Well whatever. One more piggy to roast… then the real problem begins."_

He rushes up the stairs in persuit of his final target, which he didn't really need to search thanks to the REVENANTs ability to sense food. In the very corner of the building, he spots the piggy who was standing out of the window.

The moment their eyes met each other, the piggy jumps to a nearby building.

The REVENANT expected that much. The 4 story building was the highest building in the ruined city, with the rest being 2-1 stories. Unfortunately for the piggy, no matter what terrain he was in, the REVENANT will always feel right at home.

He dashes towards the window and jumps without fear.

The chase is on.

-:-

Sakuya Izayoi stands on her feet with feelings that she never thought she still have. Excitement, glee, longing along with confusion, doubt and fear.

"RUN GORO RUN!" Onji yells with all of his might. He then turns to Sakuya and bows before her. "Lady Izayoi, I beseech thee. Please stop the competition and save my son! He's my heir and my only child. Only you have the authority to do that."

She understands his plight….. really, she does.

His son, Goro Takazoku was desperately (and pathetically) jumps from one building to the other in order to escape the black figure, the REVENANT, who was moving effortlessly amongst the ruins.

The sight of losing an important person in one's life is something Sakuya understands oh so well. Unfortunately for Onji, the sight of the REVENANT filled Sakuya with glee to the point that she doesn't care about anything.

For the first time in a very long while, Sakuya reveals her yandere smile for everyone to see.

"Oh my oh my! Did your son not sign the death weaver?" Sakuya asks with glee that is not fit for the situation

"W-well, yes…. He did…. But-!"

"Then that answers your plee. As stated in the contract of those who join THE ROULLETE, his death is of his own choosing, and none are to be held responsible the result of his decision" Sakuya replies "His life is forfeit Mr. Onji Takazoku, and for influencing him to join THE ROULLETE, you shall watch as his life is extinguished!"

Onji's face turns to despair, much to Sakuya's delight.

"No! It cant be!" Onji turns to the other DIABOLIS. "Please! I beg of you! Someone save my son!"

Much to his horror, all of the DIABOLIS simply laughs at him. A clear sign that everyone wants to see his son die.

"N-no…. my beloved son." Onji falls into despair. With nothing to do, he simply watch his son run for his life.

On the otherhand, Sakuya's focus is concentrated on the REVENANT's right arm. The metallic arm is smooth and sleak which differs from the standard diabolic look of the BLACK HAND. Yes… without a doubt, it was the BLACK HAND that she and her beloved made together. Her heart flutters at the very thought.

"_My beloved Samael, how I missed you so!"_

-:-

"_This arm is AWESOME!" _The REVENANT thought as he moves through the ruins with grace.

And how can it NOT be awesome?

He can wall run indefinitely by grabbing onto the wall when he is about to lose momentum and slingshot himself

Instead of a simple vault over a wall, the BLACK HAND can catapult him 10 meters or more depending on his momentum.

Even with all the obstacles in the urban jungle, he moves at full speed towards his prey….. though that isn't really much of a challenge, seeing how his prey is like a pig in a fetstival. In short, his prey is toast…. Or is it roast?

Either way, even after giving the pig a few minutes head start, he instantly catches up to him.

Noticing the REVENANT's arrival, the prey turns around, draws his katana and prepares to fight. Unfortunately for him, he was a second too late as the REVENANT hits him with a mace to the hand, fist to the stomach, mace to the right leg. To top it all off, the REVENANT sacrifices 50% of his life and throws a powerful uppercut that it causes a loud bang and throws the prey 10 feet in the air, killing him before he plummets 30 feet to the streets below.

"_No kill like an OVERKILL!"_

And so, THE ROULLETE comes to an end. In the REVENANT's part, he was able to gain a lot of valuable insight to his own abilities that he may, and will, use in the future. He also drained a fair bit of mana at the expense of others.

All in all, everyone is happy…. Or atleast, everyone who is already dead.

"_Well then…. If my anime know-how is correct, I am about to have a fateful encounter right about…. NOW!"_

_._

_._

_._

And as if the world was working against him…. Nothing happens.

.

.

.

"…_..any second now…."_

_._

_._

_._

Still…. Nothing happens

.

.

.

"_HEY! A little cooperation here Mr. Autho- "_

Suddenly, numerous hands sprout from beneath him and painfully pulls him to the ground.

"_God damn you Author! If I ever get my hands on you, I'll shove a pineapple up your ass!"_

A few seconds later, a white girl with white ethereal wings descend from the heavens and lands a few meters in front of the REVENANT.

"_Changing the subject to avoid confrontation?! Some author you are! I'll let you go this time, but the next time this happens, spongebob and his pineapple wont be living under the sea!"_

The girl gracefully approaches the REVENANT, unaware of the dangerous insults he was throwing against a being that could easily remove their existence with a push of the DELETE button.

With great effort, the REVENANT lifts his head to take a better look on the new comer. The moment the he clearly saw the pure white angel, uncontrollable anger takes over.

**KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKI LLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKI LLKILLKILLKILLKILL!**

The anger was so intense that even the hunger couldn't even compare, much to his surprise. What surprises him more, is the fact that he allowed himself to be consumed by such anger.

The REVENANT roars, then violently rips and bash the hands that were keeping him bound. The second he was free, he charges to the girl with every intention of bashing her face into a bloody pulp.

….. he never got close….

This time, countless of hands sprout from the ground and holds him in place.

"Fu fu fu. I see you're as lively as ever, my beloved SAMAEL" the girl said as she lovingly stroked his cheeks.

The REVENANT stops. _"SAMAEL? Why does that sound familiar…."_

He looks at the girl questioningly.

"HAHAHAHA! Do forgive me. I completely forgot the effects of becoming a REVENANT." The girl said in childish glee. "Tis a shame that remember nothing of our time together, but such is our fate. Anyways, your name is SAMAEL and I, Sakuya Izayoi, am a person from your past."

The angel named Sakuya kisses him on his lips (or atleast where it was suppose to be), then leans her forehead against his.

"Your strength is still lacking if you are to break my chains." Sakuya whispers to him. "Fret not Samael. I shall arrange your escort into ARIA where you can recover the strength you once had. For now however, please…. _sleep_"

At her word, his consciousness fades.

-:-

When he regained his consciousness, he finds himself in a dungeon with chains binding his arms and legs.

"…_.. Great….. just great…."_

The REVENANT…. No… Samael sighs in annoyance.

"_No use mopping around here. Better think of a way to escape…."_

Samael calms down and listens to his surroundings. Much to his surprise, the sound of combat echoed from a distance. With each passing second, the sound of people fighting, and dying, draws closer to his current position.

"Damn it! What the hell are ARIANS doing here?!" A paniced BUSHI who was standing guard infront of his cell unsheaths his katana. "Why did it had to be today of all times?! Just when I finally had the money to rent a Geisha!"

His complaining was cut short by an approaching presence. Due to being confined in his cell, Samael couldn't see what the approaching figure looked like. However, there is one thing that he could tell….

"_Good Freaking Lord! What the hell is that smell?!"_

A powerful stench of rotting meat fills the air. Whatever was approaching, is stinks…. BAD!

Suddenly, the BUSHI in front of his cell defends himself against a large attacker.

The attacker was a 7 foot tall, very muscular man clad in full black samurai armor, complete with an oni mask. He wielded a 4 foot long Nodachi which, for some reason, was emitting a vile green smoke. The blade itself seems to be the source of the powerful stench.

"_Plague Blade?"_ Samael thought.

The black samurai waste no time and violently attaked the BUSHI with horrifically powerful swings. Despite the BUSHI's best efforts to defend himself, the black samurai repeatedly broke through his defense and sliced him a few times.

With a loud bang, the 2 japanesse swordsmen locked blades, but this time, the BUSHI was noticeably getting weaker by the second. His knees were shaking violently, as if he was experiencing a fever. Despite that, the BUSHI desperately holds his ground against the black samurai.

"Good work Kuro. You passed your test." Said a suave voice.

Suddenly, a cross shaped gladius stabs the BUSHI from behind, killing him instantly. What caught Samael by surprise, is the fact that he never even noticed the presence of the other man, a clear sign that he is an assassin type character like Samael, only much better.

The DROW (a race not available to the players) wore a black assassin robe with a bit of black light armor plating. His sword was a typical gladius except for the horizontal blades near the tip of the sword, making it look like a cross. Finally, and most importantly, was his right arm which looked like a very menacing version of Samael's very own. Without a doubt, THAT is a BLACK HAND.

The DROW looks at the black samurai. "Kuro, I already told the instructors time and time again, that this idiotic entrance exam was unnecessary for you. You are simply just too skilled to be brushed off as a simple novice. When we get back to ARIA, I'll MAKE that accursed school to accept you. That I swear to you."

"Thank you, master Laerer" The black samurai bows low in gratitude.

"No prob. Well then, lets get to business"

The DROW turns his attention to Samael. "So….. you're the REVENANT Aria was talking about….. Got a name?"

"Samael…. I think…." he replied.

"I see… sucks to be a REVENANT." Laerer grabs the prison bars and, with a bit of effort, bends it until the space was big enough for Kuro to slip in.

The two enters the cell and stands in front of Samael."I am Laerer from the BLACK HAND. Let's chat for a bit, shall we?"

-:-


End file.
